Rianne Haartsen

Rianne Haartsen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development (CBCD), Birkbeck, University of London, where she leads the GAIINS project (Genetics and AI for Individualized Neural Stratification) in the BOND lab under Professor Emily J.H. Jones. She actively contributes to major international studies including BASIS, STAARS, LEAP, AIMS-2-TRIALS, and Braintools, with a focus on translating EEG research into clinical and global health applications.

Her academic journey includes a PhD in Psychology (2015-2019) from CBCD, Birkbeck, an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience: Perception, Action, and Control (2012-2014) from Radboud University Nijmegen, and a BSc in Psychology (2009-2012) from the same institution. This foundation supports her interdisciplinary approach to neurodevelopmental research.

Haartsen's research centers on linking brain development trajectories to clinical outcomes in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ADHD. She pioneers robust EEG methodologies to capture naturalistic brain responses from infancy to adulthood, developing scalable tools for diverse settings including low-resource environments. Her work identifies early neural markers for ASD to enable timely interventions, with strong emphasis on theta oscillations, face processing, and excitation/inhibition balance.

Her 15 most recent publications reveal a clear trajectory toward advanced EEG signal decomposition (periodic/aperiodic), neuroadaptive Bayesian optimization for individualized assessment, and cross-condition neural responses to social stimuli. These works bridge basic developmental neuroscience with clinical applications, increasingly incorporating AI-driven approaches and global health perspectives.

She has received significant recognition through competitive travel awards:

• SAPIENS Early Social Development conference Travel Award (2022)
• 50 Years of Microstates Travel Award (2022)
• INSAR Student Travel Award (2019)
• Guarantors of the Brain Travel Award (2019)

Funding includes a Birkbeck Wellcome Trust ISSF research position (2018-2019) covering salary and conference travel, and her PhD through the EU Horizon 2020 BRAINVIEW network. She currently participates in large-scale collaborative grants like AIMS-2-TRIALS that support her work in EEG biomarker development and clinical translation.

Haartsen operates within the ToddlerLab and BOND lab ecosystems at CBCD, collaborating with international consortia including BASIS, STAARS, and AIMS-2-TRIALS. Her research infrastructure spans multiple global sites through projects like PASS in South Africa and Braintools' field deployments, emphasizing real-world applicability of developmental neuroscience tools.