Dr Rudy Schreiber is the lead organiser on the local organising committee. He is an expert in the serotonergic system and the use of animal models in drug discovery for psychiatric and neurological diseases.

Prof. Blokland is an expert in learning and memory. One line of research is psychopharmacology, with a focus on the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Another area of expertise is the evaluation of animal models for neurological disorders. He has an extensive record in the evaluation of drugs on memory performance in animals and humans.

Dr Kuypers research is focused on understanding the neurobiology underlying flexible cognition, empathy and well-being. To accomplish this she uses a psychopharmacological model, studying the (sub)acute and longer lasting effects of psychedelics on these behaviors and their underlying biology.

Prof. Ramaekers work focuses on behavioral toxicology of drugs and combines methods from psychopharmacology, forensic toxicology and neuroscience to determine drug induced changes in human performance.

Prof. Prickaerts’ laboratory works with rodent models and human subjects to study the influence of drugs on signal transduction and neuroplasticity to improve affective and cognitive dysfunctions. He is a leading expert on the role of phosphodiesterases and growth factors.

Prof. Homberg’s group uses transgenic rodents to investigate individual differences in behaviour and susceptibility to stress-related disorders. She serves as active associate editor for Plos One.

Dr Cools studies the chemistry of the adaptive mind: the motivational and cognitive control of human behaviour and its modulation by the major ascending neuromodulators, in particular dopamine and serotonin. She serves as active editor for the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Journal of Neuroscience.

Dr Lesscher studies the behavioural and neurobiological underpinnings of individual differences in the risk for alcohol addiction, with a particular focus on loss of control over alcohol use. In addition, she is coordinator of an interdisciplinary research team that addresses the role of play behaviour in healthy development, from rats to humans.

Dr Olivier’s research is focused on the impact of early life adversity and the developmental role of serotonin in the vulnerability to psychopathologies and behavioural profile later in life. Her research includes extensive behavioural experimentation, but also molecular analysis (gene expression/methylation) of the brain, placenta and the microbiome.

Dr Pattij studies the neural correlates of executive cognitive functions in relation to psychiatric and neurological disorders in preclinical translational models using a vari-ty of techniques including pharmacology, optogenetics and chemogenetics. Tommy is an active editor for Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Frontiers in Pharmacology and PLOS One.