Elizabeth Buimer
Assistant professor
- Name
- Dr. E.E.L. Buimer
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- e.e.l.buimer@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-8143-3160
Elizabeth Buimer is Assistant Professor in the program group Forensic Family and Youth Care Studies. In her research, she focuses on the interaction between the social environment and brain development as predictors of vulnerability and resilience in adolescents.
More information about Elizabeth Buimer
Elizabeth Buimer in the news
Short cv
Elizabeth Buimer obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology at the University of Amsterdam in 2014. Next, she obtained a Research Master of Science degree in Biomedical Science - Neurobiology at the University of Amsterdam in 2016. In 2016 she started as research assistant to contribute to large-scale neuroimaging collaborations in psychiatry at the University Medical Center Utrecht. Here, she started to work on the YOUth cohort study (part of the Consortium on Individual Development) in 2017, first as a research assistant and from 2018 as a PhD-candidate.
Her PhD project aimed to study childhood experiences and the relation to brain structure and function in 1000 children (8-, 9- and 10-year-olds). The title of her dissertation is: 'Childhood images: Childhood experiences and the relation to brain structure and function in pre-adolescence'.
From October 2022 to September 2023, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University to study neurobiological mechanisms underlying resilient functioning after childhood adversity in adolescents (THRIVE-study). Currently, she works as an Assistant Professor at Leiden University, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Institute of Education and Child Studies.
Research
Adverse childhood experiences are an important risk factor for psychosocial problems during adolescence. However, there are substantial differences among adolescents in the degree of mental health vulnerability after childhood adversity. Research into these inter-individual differences aids in identifying factors that protect adolescents from the negative effects of childhood trauma. Protective factors may include individual characteristics, characteristics of the social environment, or neurobiological factors.
Elizabeth Buimer utilizes neuroimgaing data to map the relationship between brain measurements, childhood experiences, and psychosocial functioning. As a member of the Resilience Center Leiden, she actively contributes to the THRIVE study that is focused on mechanisms of resilience after childhood trauma. Additionally, she participates in the interdisciplinary program 'Social Resilience and Security' and the SSH-domain ‘Resilience in youth’.
Elizabeth Buimer considers it essential to involve the general public in her research. For instance, she has summarized her PhD thesis for young people in collaboration with an illustrator and a youth panel.
Download 'Beelden uit de kindertijd. Jeugdervaringen en hersenen in de groei' ›› (in Dutch)
Assistant professor
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Pedagogische Wetenschappen
- Forensische gezinsped. en Jeugdhulpverl.