Melle J.W. van der Molen, PhD

Principal Investigator

I am an assistant professor in Clinical Neurodevelopmental Psychology at Leiden University and principal investigator at the CoDAP lab. My work lies at the intersection between developmental cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. A key denominator of my work is employing a multi-method approach - combining behavioral and neuroimaging assessments, as well as advanced statistical methods. I aim at discovering reliable transdiagnostic markers that will aid in understanding the etiology of psychological disorders

Biosketch and CV

Elise Kortink, MSc

Ph.D. candidate

I am a PhD candidate for the Developmental and Educational Psychology at Leiden University and enthusiastic member of the CoDAP lab. My PhD project (i.e., the Changing Minds project), funded by an NWO Research Talent grant, aims to identify subgroups of people, characterized by similarities in personality, environmental, physiological and behavioral responses in various social contexts. These subgroups, or ‘symptom-profiles’ should help indicate who is at risk for developing social anxiety disorder in adolescence. I am particularly interested in examining potential differences in a brain mechanism involved during social learning and behavioral responses to uncertain social situations.

Selin Topel, BSc

Research Intern

I received my B. A. In psychology from Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. I am currently a Research Master’s student in developmental psychology at Leiden University. My research interests include topics related to social cognition and developmental psychopathology. At the moment, I am involved in the Changing Minds in Social Anxiety project as a research apprentice at the CoDAP lab. 

Emma Holden, BSc

Thesis student

I am a Master student studying the Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology course at Leiden University. My thesis has allowed me to work in the CoDAP Lab, for the Changing Minds project. I am interested in exploring clinical disorders, both behaviorally and neurologically. Currently, I am researching the differences of neurophysiology in anxiety populations.

Didier Ching, BSc

Thesis student

I am a clinical neuropsychology masters student in Leiden. I am currently involved as a research intern with the Changing Minds project. I have a keen interest in neuropsychological disorders and their neurological underpinnings. I am working on understanding the neurological properties of social anxiety

Suze Bik, BSc

Thesis student

I am studying the master Child and Adolescent Psychology at Leiden University. For my thesis, I work for the Changing Minds project in the CoDAP Lab. I am interested in the cognitive aspects of clinical disorders. I am researching the information processing biases of socially anxious people

Clarissa Kölgen, BSc

Thesis student

I am a master’s student in the Child and Adolescent Psychology track at Leiden University. I am currently writing my thesis in the context of the Changing Minds project. I would love to learn more about social cognition in developmental psychopathology. The neurophysiological and autonomic correlates of social anxiety are of particular interest to me.

Laura van Toor, BSc

Thesis student

I am a master’s student in the Child and Adolescent Psychology track at Leiden University. At this moment I am writing my thesis in the context of the Changing Minds project. I enjoy learning about the neuropsychological mechanisms of clinical disorders. For my thesis, I am particularly interested in exploring a common neural alarm system in people with social anxiety traits and certain personality characteristics. 

Christin Kuehner

Honors student

I am an international Bachelor of Psychology student at Leiden University. I am currently conducting my Honors Research Bachelor Project with the Changing Minds project and my research interests include Clinical Neuropsychology and Developmental Psychology. With the changing minds project, I can focus on neural correlates of behavior and cognitions of people with (sub)clinical social anxiety.