Universiteit Leiden

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Melle van der Molen

Assistant Professor

Name
Dr. M.J.W. van der Molen
Telephone
+31 71 527 6042
E-mail
m.j.w.van.der.molen@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
ORCID iD
0000-0003-0431-7630

Short CV

Melle van der Molen is assistant professor in the Developmental and Educational Psychology unit of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University. He obtained his master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Amsterdam in 2007. In 2011 he obtained his PhD from the same University under supervision of Prof. K. Richard Ridderinkhof and Dr. Ger J.A. Ramakers. In his PhD project, entitled “Profiling fragile X syndrome in males: A psychophysiological and neuropsychological approach” , he focused on the repercussions of genetic abnormalities on brain development and cognitive function in fragile X syndrome. In 2011 he moved to Leiden University for a post-doc position on profiling neurocognitive endophenotypes of social anxiety disorder under supervision of Prof. Michiel Westenberg.

CV in pdf

Research

His current work lies at the intersection between developmental cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. A key denominator of his work is employing a multimethod approach - combining behavioral and neuroimaging assessments, as well as advanced statistical methods (e.g., network analyses). A goal is to discover reliable transdiagnostic markers that will aid in understanding the etiology of psychological disorders.

Melle van der Molen founded the CoDAP Lab in 2018. Research in his lab focuses on Cognitive Developmental and Affective Psychophysiology with a dominant focus on electrophysiological correlates of social-evaluative cognitive biases and aberrant social learning in anxiety disorders. Advanced electrophysiological (EEG/ECG) analyses are conjunctively used with behavioral and personality assessments to explain individual differences in responses to social evaluative stressors. Another research focus is using network theoretical analyses (e.g., community structure analyese, minumun spanning tree analyses) to parse subgroup profiles that show distrinct symptom profiles and/or brain functioning to better understand heterogeneity between clinical disorders. These methods have recently been employed in fragile X syndrome, social anxiety disorder, and dyslexia.

Teaching

  • Coordinator of Psychodiagnostics (Bachelor, year 2) 
  • Coordinator of Gene-environment interactions in developmental psychopathology (Research Master) 
  • Bachelor project (supervisor) 
  • Honours research bachelor project (supervisor) 
  • Master thesis (supervisor) 
  • Research internship (supervisor)

Awards and Grants

  • NWO Research Talent grant awarded to Elise Kortink, MSc (K€233,-). Role: principal investigator
  • NWO Poster Prize (1st place)

Supervised PhD candidates

  • Elise Kortink, MSc. “Changing minds in social anxiety: A developmental network approach to cognitive biase modification”. Supported by an NWO research talent grant. 2018-2022.
  • Anita Harrewijn, Shy parent, shy Child? Delineating psychophysiological endophenotypes of social anxiety disorder, 2018

Registrations

  • Basic Qualification in Teaching
  • Basic Psychodiagnostic Registration (Netherlands Institute of Psychologists)

Academic Memberships

  • Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR)
  • FLUX Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
  • European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN)
  • International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP)

Relevant links

LinkedIn profile
Twitter
Research Gate profile
www.mellevandermolen.com

Assistant Professor

  • Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
  • Instituut Psychologie
  • Ontwikkelings- & Onderwijspsychologie

Work address

Pieter de la Court
Wassenaarseweg 52
2333 AK Leiden
Room number 3B44

Contact

No relevant ancillary activities

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