Gilian Tenbergen

Gilian Tenbergen is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the State University of New York at Oswego. Her research focuses on the neurobiological and neuropsychological underpinnings of impulse control in sexual offending, particularly pedophilia and paraphilias. She employs techniques like neuroimaging, eye-tracking, and VR to inform treatment and prevention strategies. Dr. Tenbergen holds a Ph.D. from Hannover Medical School (2017), an M.S. from Maastricht University (2011), and a B.A. from SUNY Oswego (2008). She teaches courses including Drugs and Behavior, Research Methods in Psychology, Biopsychology, and Abnormal Psychology.

Her research interests emphasize understanding the brain's role in criminal behavior, with recent work exploring prenatal and epigenetic factors in androgen systems, empathy deficits in pedophilia, and community-based interventions for at-risk populations. She has contributed to over 15 peer-reviewed articles since 2017, addressing topics like neurobiological origins of pedophilia, sexual violence intervention protocols, and neuropsychological correlates of offending behavior.

Dr. Tenbergen’s work bridges clinical practice and neuroscience, aiming to improve prevention and therapeutic approaches for sexual offending. Her studies often involve multidisciplinary collaborations, combining neuroimaging data with behavioral assessments to identify biomarkers of risk. While no specific awards are listed, her research has been published in high-impact journals and informs clinical guidelines for sexual medicine and forensic psychiatry.