team members

DR. Andrea Reinecke
research clinical psychologist
Head of the oxited Group

I am a clinical psychologist with a PhD in Experimental Psychology, working as a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. My interdisciplinary research approach brings together clinical psychology, pharmacology and neurobiology to identify the cognitive and biological mechanisms underlying anxiety development and recovery. Such knowledge is essential to identify potential synergistic effects and to logically combine different treatments, which will allow us to condense different intervention forms into innovative and more economic formats. My work is funded by an MQ fellowship and research grants from the Oxfordshire Health Services Research Committee (OHSRC), the Oxford University Press John-Fell fund, and the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Joppe KLEIN BRETELER
clinical psychology MSC student

I am studying clinical psychology at the Radboud University in Nijmegen and currently a visiting student in Andrea's lab. My main interest is in the influence of cognitive biases in anxiety and depression. Presently, I am investigating whether certain drugs can be used to influence emotional processing biases in anxious individuals using EEG and behavioural tasks. These drugs might have synergistic effects with current standard treatment options for anxiety disorders, such as Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy, increasing the effectiveness of these treatments. Ultimately, this might help us treat anxiety disorders faster, more effectively, and with less individuals relapsing.

NILS KAPPELMANN
neuropsychologist graduate STUDENT

I am a neuropsychology graduate from Maastricht University, the Netherlands. I am investigating whether hydrocortisone, a stress hormone, might augment treatment benefits of a single CBT session in individuals suffering from spider anxiety. Increasing the body’s stress levels can prevent the retrieval of aversive memories and might foster the consolidation of non-fearful memories in anxiety-related situations. Probing the glucocorticoid system could also result in information-processing changes such as reductions in negative implicit evaluation and/or avoidance of spiders, which might offer an additional explanation of treatment effects. We aim to answer these questions in order to clarify whether hydrocortisone might offer an evidence-based option to “boost” CBT for spider anxiety.

Caroline NettEkoven
psychology BSC  student

I have studied psychology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and I am currently working as a visiting research fellow on a research project with Andrea at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. I am interested in understanding how emotional information processing and learning can be influenced by medication. Using EEG and fMRI, I am investigating how a cognitive enhancer influences the performance in computerised emotional processing tasks. This is aiming at enhancing the effectiveness of psychological therapies such as cognitive-behaviour therapy. The knowledge gained from these studies is expected to lead to the development of more effective and more compact treatment of anxiety disorders.

Heike Rohrbacher
PhD student
Clinical psychologist

I have trained as a clinical psychologist in Dresden, Germany, and am currently working as a clinical psychologist in an outpatient centre in Munich. Simultaenously, I am working on my PhD in Clinical Psychology with Andrea. I am looking at the role of interpretation bias in the development and treatment of depression. In particular, I am aiming to improve computerised cognitive bias modification paradigms which are thought to reduce depression by reducing negative interpretation bias. The knowledge from these studies is hoped to ultimately help us to develop these approaches into effective stand-alone treatments.

former team members

Dr. Mareike Suesse
DClinPsy placement 2015
Now a clinical psychologist in London

Dr. Kai Thilo
DClinPsy placement 2014
Now a clinical psychologist in private practice in Oxfordshire

Dr. Susann Schmiedgen (Steudte)
postdoctoral research placement 2014
Now a postdoc at Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Reinoud Kaldewaij
Visitng researcher 2014
Now a PhD student at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Jan Guenthner
MD doctoral research thesis placement 2013
Now a final year medical student at Heidelberg University, Germany

Bennard Doornbos
Postdoctoral Research Placement 2013
Now a Clinical Research Fellow at Groningen University, The Netherlands

Xijia Luo
MSc Research Placement 2011
Now a PhD student at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

collaborators

Prof. Catherine Harmer
Professor of Cognitive Neurosciences
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK
http://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/team/PIs/catherine-harmer

Prof. Heidi Johansen-Berg
Professor of Cognitive Neurosciences
Department of Neurology, University of Oxford, UK
http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/team/@@profilepage?remote=http://www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/team/researchers/heidi-johansen-berg

Dr. Kyle Pattinson
MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow, Consultant Anaesthetist
Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, University of Oxford, UK
http://users.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~kylep/

Prof. Eni Becker
Professor of Clinical Psychology
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
http://www.ru.nl/bsi/research-programs/experimental/

Prof. Mike Rinck
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
http://www.ru.nl/bsi/research-programs/experimental/members-ept/members-ept/

Prof. Juergen Hoyer
Head of Clinical Psychology Doctorate
Dresden University of Technology, Germany
http://www.psychologie.tu-dresden.de/i2/klinische/mitarbeiter/hoyer.html