Kaya Peerdeman's research focuses on the effect of biopsychosocial mechanisms on treatment outcomes. She specifically focuses on how expectations shape health.

More information about Kaya Peerdeman

Kaya Peerdeman's research focuses on the effect of biopsychosocial mechanisms on treatment outcomes. She specifically focuses on how expectations shape health. 

Research

Kaya Peerdeman' research specifically focuses on how expectations shape health, for example through examining placebo and nocebo effects (i.e. beneficial and adverse treatment outcomes not attributable to active treatment components, respectively). She also has a particular interest in violated expectations and uncertainty. She examines how they impact health outcomes like pain and other symptoms (e.g. itch, stress) and what biopsychosocial factors are involved (e.g. anxiety, doctor-patient communication). Central in her work are mechanistic studies bridging fundamental and applied research. She works to translate findings to clinical practice in order to optimise treatments.

Short CV

Kaya Peerdeman completed the Research Master Psychology and the Master Clinical Psychology at the University of Amsterdam (2011). Her PhD research commenced at the Radboud university medical center and continued at Leiden University under the supervision of Prof. dr. Andrea Evers, Prof. dr. Madelon Peters, and Dr. Antoinette van Laarhoven. She defended her PhD thesis ‘Harnessing placebo effects by targeting expectancies’ in February 2018. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the research group before becoming an assistant professor.

Education

• Coordinator master theses Health and Medical Psychology
• Supervisor theses and research internships master tracks Health and Medical Psychology and Clinical Neuropsychology
• Supervisor bachelor projects Psychology
• Tutor workgroups and lecturer bachelor specialisation course Health & Medical Psychology
• Tutor workgroups research master course Evaluating Interventions in Patients with Chronic Diseases 
• Tutor workgroups course Perspectives on Career Orientation
• Coordinator and lecturer in elective course Cross-cultural Psychology of Health and Illness
• Lecturer in bachelor course Personality, Clinical and Health Psychology
• Lecturer on placebo and nocebo effects (Minor Medical Psychology, ErasmusMC & course The Placebo Effect, Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences)

Media (selection)

• Mindfulness Success for Pain May Be Partly a Placebo Effect. Pain Medicine News. 
• Research into the best possible pain expectations. Leiden University Fund. 
• Om de pijn te verzachten: De kracht van verbeelding [To soften the pain: The power of imagery]. By Janne-Marieke Karsten in Crohniek, September 2018.
• Verbeeldingskracht helpt pijn verminderen [Imagery helps reduces pain]. NPO Radio 1, Nieuws en Co, February 2018.
• Versterk medicatie-effect door juist te communiceren [Enhance medication effect by communicating correctly]. By Francine Aarts in Nuring, February 2018.
• Verwachtingen en pijnbestrijding [Expectations and pain relief]. Sleutelstad FM, Science071, June 2016.
• Artsen aller landen: schuif dat placebo-effect toch niet aan de kant! [Doctors: don't put that placebo effect aside!]. NPO Radio 1, June 2016.

Supervision PhD candidates

• Merve Karacaoglu (2017-2024), Identifying patients at risk for the sensitisation of somatic symptoms (NWO Vici grant prof. Andrea Evers).
• Simone Meijer (2017-ongoing), Developing innovative treatments for the desensitisation of somatic symptoms (NWO Vici grant prof. Andrea Evers).
• Fabian Wolters (2017-ongoing), Investigating placebo and nocebo mechanisms in fatigue and circadian rhythms (NWO Vici grant and ERC consolidator grant prof. Andrea Evers, and NWO Top Talent grant).
• LingLing Weng (2017-2023), Transferability of the placebo and nocebo effect between itch and pain (CSC grant).
• Joe Blythe (2017-2023), Unraveling nocebo mechanisms as a cause for the sensitisation of somatic symptoms (focus on itch) (NWO Vici grant prof. Andrea Evers).

Grants

• IASP Early Career Research Grant (2021).
• LUF research grant (2021).
• KNAW van der Gaag grant (2020) & LNVH Distinguished Women Scientists Fund (2019).
• Mind & Life Europe 2018 Francisco J. Varela Research Award.
• IASP travel grant (2018, 2022).

Awards

• SIPS early career award (2023).
• SIPS conference oral presentation award (2021).
• ARPH Young Talent Award (2019).
• Best academic paper 2015-2016, Dutch Flemish Postgraduate School for Research and Education in Experimental Psychopathology (EPP). Awarded for Peerdeman et al. (2017), European Journal of Pain.
• Best article 2015 of the unit Health, Medical and Neuropsychology, Leiden University. Awarded for Peerdeman et al. (2015), PLoS ONE.

Memberships societies, research schools, and institutes

• Center for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies Leiden.
• Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (SIPS) - organising committee 1^st and 2^nd official SIPS conference on placebo studies, 2017 and 2019.
• Dutch Flemish Postgraduate School for Research and Education in Experimental Psychopathology (EPP).
• International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
• Association for Researchers in Psychology and Health (ARPH).
• Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC).

Publications