Hulshoff Pol Hilleke

Hilleke Hulshoff Pol is a full professor of neuroscience at Utrecht University's Helmholtz Institute, Department of Experimental Psychology, where she leads the Brain Plasticity Group. She also holds a part-time professorship in precision psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Department of Psychiatry) and is affiliated with Utrecht University Medical Center's Psychiatry Department. Her research focuses on structural and functional brain plasticity across lifespan, integrating neuroimaging, genetics, and behavioral measures.

• Main affiliation: Utrecht University (Helmholtz Institute, Experimental Psychology)
• Part-time: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Psychiatry)
• Embedded in: Dynamics of Youth, Utrecht Bioinformatics Center, Complexity in Biology and AI

Research interests include:

• Genetic and environmental influences on brain plasticity via twin studies and genome-wide analyses
• Longitudinal brain development and aging in health and psychiatric disorders
• Neuroimaging at (ultra)-high field strength and fetal ultrasound
• Machine learning applications in psychiatric neuroimaging (via Mount Sinai affiliation)

Scientific impact evidenced by:

• ENIGMA Brain Plasticity Working Group founder, discovering genes linked to lifelong brain changes
• Highly cited researcher (Cross-Field, 2018-2020 Web of Science top 1%)
• National leadership: PI for Dutch Research Council's Growing Up Together in Society Gravity grant (2023-2033)

Future work aims to explore how brain plasticity affects pre/postnatal development and aging to improve mental health outcomes.