I am trained as medical doctor (Erasmus MC, Rotterdam 1991-1998), psychiatrist (VUmc/GGZinGeest, Amsterdam, 2001-2007), and neuroscientist (VU/Amsterdam Neuroscience, PhD 1999-2005, ‘with highest distinction’). I specialized in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Parkinson’s disease. In both diseases I study brain circuit alterations underlying symptom profiles using multiple neuroimaging techniques. I also develop and test innovative interventions to enhance emotional/cognitive and physical functioning.

As clinician I initiated a specialized outpatient clinic for Neuropsychiatry in 2008 (Amsterdam UMC), primarily focussed on neuropsychiatric disorders in Parkinson and other neurological disorders.

As neuroscientist, I started my scientific work on OCD and related mental disorders. I extended that to Parkinson in 2008, with a specific interest in impulse control disorders, mood/anxiety-related disturbances and cognitive decline. I lead the research group Neuropsychiatry. Our aim is to translate neuroscientific knowledge to the clinic by developing innovative treatments targeting specific neural circuits, using e.g., exposure therapy, cognitive and physical training, and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). I combine randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with pre-post-treatment imaging, to study the neural effects and predict treatment response.

I chair the worldwide ENIGMA-OCD consortium and the Neuromodulation network of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP). I am member of the editorial board of Biological Psychiatry and its sisters journal Biol Psych CNNI and Biol Psych GOS.