Inez GermeysView profile
Professor
Inez Germeys is a full professor at KU Leuven, holding a position within the Department of Neuroscience in the Faculty of Medicine. She serves as head of the Contextual Psychiatry research group and is affiliated with both the KU Leuven Brain Institute (LBI) and the KU Leuven Institute for Child and Youth (LC&Y). Her institutional roles include membership on the Faculty Council of Medicine and the Departmental Council of Neurosciences as a ZAP representative. Professor Germeys' research focuses on innovative approaches to understanding mental health through real-time assessment methods. Her primary areas of investigation include: Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) and Ecological Momentary Assessment Psychosis and early intervention strategies Digital mental health interventions, particularly Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAIs) Emotion regulation processes in daily life Social context and its impact on mental health symptoms Gene-environment interactions in mental disorders Her work represents a cutting-edge integration of traditional psychiatric research with digital innovation, emphasizing the importance of capturing mental health phenomena in naturalistic settings rather than solely in laboratory contexts. This approach allows for more ecologically valid understanding of symptom dynamics and treatment mechanisms. Analysis of Professor Germeys' recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on methodological innovation in mental health research, particularly in refining experience sampling techniques and applying them to understand emotion regulation, psychosis, and adolescent mental health. A significant portion of her work focuses on developing and validating digital tools for real-time assessment and intervention in mental healthcare settings. Her research increasingly incorporates physiological measures alongside subjective experience to create more comprehensive models of mental health processes. Professor Germeys currently leads multiple major research projects including: 'Minder is meer: Twee innovatieve benaderingen voor het verkorten van Experience Sampling vragenlijsten voor Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions' (2024-2027) 'Naar de wetenschappelijke basis voor Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAI's) voor geestelijke gezondheidsproblemen' (2023-2029) 'Wat zijn risico-momenten: de dynamiek van affectief herstel van stress en sociale interactie in het dagelijks leven' (2023-2027) She supervises doctoral students including Z. Akcaoglu and A. Lachowicz, whose work focuses on social processes in psychosis development and affective recovery from stress, respectively. Her research group actively collaborates with international consortia and has received substantial funding for developing innovative approaches to mental healthcare delivery. Professor Germeys leads the Contextual Psychiatry research group, which specializes in understanding mental health phenomena within their natural contexts using ambulatory assessment methods. The group works at the intersection of clinical psychology, psychiatry, and digital health innovation, with particular expertise in experience sampling methodology and its clinical applications.






