Karin Roelofs


Karin Roelofs is a cognitive neuroscientist and clinical psychologist known for her contributions in the fields of stress resilience, decisions making under threat, and neurocognitive mechanisms of emotion regulation in health, professionals at risk and patients with stress-related disorders. Currently she holds the position of Professor of Experimental Psychopathology at the Behavioural Science Institute and is chair of the Affective Neuroscience group at the Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands. Roelofs received three consecutive grants by the European Research Council for her research and is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Education and career

Roelofs obtained her master's degree in Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology at Radboud University. For her Neuropsychology degree she interned at the Pediatric Branch NCI: National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, USA. She completed her Ph.D. in 2002 at Radboud University, with the highest distinction and became assistant professor at the Department of Clinical Health and Neuropsychology at Leiden University. During this time, she also held part-time positions as a registered GZ-Psychologist at Rivierduinen, Leiden and at PsyQ, Den Haag. In 2007 she was promoted to associate professor at the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition. Following her tenure at Leiden University, she made a transition in 2010 to Radboud University as a full professor of Experimental Psychopathology at the Behavioural Science Institute & Donders Institute: Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging. It was there that she founded the EPAN group, known as "Experimental Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience".

Research

Roelofs is an expert in affective neuroscience and stress-related disorders. She has provided the empirical foundations of current theorizing about the role of human defensive stress-reactions in long-term resilience. Her group's longitudinal studies in risk populations have contributed to the identification of biomarkers for stress-resilience. Additionally, she is developing neurocognitively grounded interventions to train stress-resilience and decision making under threat, of which one is currently implemented in the curriculum of the Dutch Police Academy. Roelofs' theoretical paradigm opened new scientific directions, moving from a focus on stress vulnerability towards a focus on understanding resilience. She was awarded the prestigious international Evens Science Prize for outstanding neuroscientific contributions to the field of stress-resilience.

Awards and recognition

Roelofs holds various international positions. She is member of the Research Council of the ERC and board member of the European federation of academies of sciences and humanities: All European Academies, dedicated to the advancement of science and scholarship in Europe and the world. She is founding member and former chair of the International Resilience Alliance, founding member and former vice-president of the, member of the Academia Europaea and member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Karin Roelofs has received several grants throughout her career. A selection of personal and consortium grants:
  • 2025-2030 European Research Council Advanced Grant. Primary applicant: HEART2ADAPT: Autonomic Balance for Adaptive Decision Making
  • 2025-2033 Dutch Research Council national science agenda. Co-applicant : CONTEXT: Contextualized Biofeedback training for professionals and youth at risk
  • 2023 Dutch Research Council take-off grant. Primary applicant: DUST platform, a biofeedback-based VR game.
  • 2021-2027 Dutch Research Council open competition SHH. Role applicant together with Ivan Toni: Control mechanisms of social-emotional regulation
  • 2020-2027 Dutch Research Council Crossover Grant. Role WP-leader: INTENSE: Innovative Neurotechnology for Society.
  • 2013-2019 Dutch Research Council : Vici personal grant, for "The role of freeze-fight-flight tendencies in post traumatic stress"
  • 2018 European Research Council Consolidator Grant. Primary applicant: DARE2APPROACH: A Neurocognitive Approach to Alleviating Persistent Avoidance in Anxiety Disorders
  • 2017-2024 Horizon2020 Personalized Medicine grant. Co-applicant : DYNAMORE: Dynamic modelling of resilience
  • 2013-2017 European Research Council : FP7-HEALTH-2013-INNOVATION
  • 2017-2023 Dutch Research Council : Brain and Cognition Grant
  • 2012-2018 European Research Council starting grant: NEURODEFENSE: Neural control of human freeze-fight-flight
  • 2007-2013 Dutch Research Council : Vidi personal grant
  • 2004-2007 Dutch Research Council : Veni personal grant

Public engagement

Roelofs regularly gives public lectures, several of which are publicly available: "The Resilient Human Being" as part of the Dies Natalis event at Radboud University; "What causes you to freeze, flee or fight when you feel threatened?" was recorded as part of public lecture series of the University of the Netherlands ; and "Grensverleggen is... logisch" organized by the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands ; and a lecture on Veerkracht as part of the Radboud Reflects lecture series.
Roelofs' work has been featured in several television programs and documentaries: The Evens Foundation Price video, Radboud Brain Awareness Week, "Martijn is Angry!". VPRO-Labyrint and Katja's body scan.
Her work has been covered in newspapers and magazines, including the annual magazine of the Dutch Research Council : Results of 2022, NeurolabNL, European Commission Horizon, NWO.
She also engaged in educating teachers and primary school children in research skills, including workshops, lectures and a book on science for primary schools.
Additionally, Roelofs' expertise has been sought in media interviews, including discussions on funding for fundamental research, the effects of stress on young children, and emotion regulation in psychopaths. Lastly, her lab's efforts have been featured in numerous articles and radio segments in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Representative publications

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