Sabine Spijker

Prof. Sabine Spijker is a Full Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam's Faculty of Science and Amsterdam Neuroscience, focusing on molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders. She holds positions in multiple research groups including Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms, Compulsivity, and Mood/Stress. Her research explores how stress manifests as depression, focusing on synaptic maladaptation and learning/memory deficits in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. She leads the Animal Models of Psychiatric Disease lab (https://mcn.cncr.nl/research_teams/animal_models_of_psychiatric_disease/).

Education: MSc Molecular Neurobiology (1994) and PhD Neuroscience (1999) from VU Amsterdam. Postdoctoral training at IGBMC (Strasbourg) and VU Amsterdam with EMBO and Marie Curie fellowships. Awarded a 2015 NWO Vici grant to study depression's molecular basis.

Teaching: Coordinates Human Development courses in the BSc Biomedical Science program, emphasizing embryology and organ development's molecular steps. Active in guest lectures and student mentorship.

Research Interests: Synaptic plasticity, extracellular matrix dynamics, contextual memory mechanisms, and psychiatric disease models. Contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to mental health.

Awards: Vici Grant (NWO, 2015).

Supervised 19 PhD theses. Collaborations span international institutions, with recent work on stress-induced depression and synaptic ECM changes in cognitive impairment.