Kristiaan B. van der Heijden is a member of the Faculty Board FSW and associate professor at the programme group of Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences of the Leiden Institute of Education and Child Studies.

He studied Psychology at the University of Amsterdam, with specializations in Clinical Psychobiology & Neuropsychology and Psychonomics. He performed his research internship at the University of California at Berkeley, USA. In 2001 he started his PhD training at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, and the Brain & Behavior Institute at Maastricht University. He became Assistant Professor at the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2007.  

Since 2008 he has worked as Assistant Professor (UD) and since 2014 as Associate Professor (UHD) at the Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences programme group of Leiden University. He was Director of Studies at the Institute for Education and Child Studies of Leiden University between 2013 and 1 February 2018. Per 1 February 2018 he is a member of the Faculty Board FSW as the Director of Studies.

See Dutch profile Kristaan van der Heijden

Research

Kristiaan’s research focuses on the etiology, cognitive consequences, and treatment of sleep, circadian, and arousal disorders both in typical developing children and in clinical child populations (ADHD in particular). Another line of research explores the risk or protective factors in early childhood (amongst which sleep and circadian rhythms) which influence the development of psychopathology, and includes the evaluation of an early prevention programme.

Registrations

• Coaching PhD Students programme for academic supervisors, Leiden University
• Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO), Leiden University
• Training programme for PhD candidates at the Graduate School of Neurosciences Amsterdam Rotterdam (ONWAR) (2001-2005)
• Training programme for PhD candidates at the Graduate Research Institute for Experimental Psychology (EPOS) (2001-2005)
• LOGO registration for admittance to the training program for the Statutory Disciplinary System for Health Care Psychologists in the Netherlands
• Basic Diagnostic Registration from the Dutch Institution for Psychologists (NIP)
• Certificate of Proficiency in English, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
• Certificate in Advanced Bio-Statistics, AMC Science Education
• Certificate in Clinical Data Management, AMC Science Education

PhD candidates

• Jill Suurland: Psychophysiological risk factors for early aggressive behavior (4-7-2017) (copromotor)

• Hanneke Smaling: Maternal reflective functioning and the development of aggressive behavior in children (14-3-2017) (copromotor)

• Marije Vermeulen: The role of sleep in learning; opportunities to improve child performance (2013-current) (copromotor)

• Reino Stoffelsen: Sleep and child and adolescent psychiatry (2014-current) (copromotor)

• Malou Noten: The relationship between the development of empathy and aggressive behavior in young children (2015-current) (copromotor)

Current professional activities

• Director of Studies Faculty Board FSW
• Director of Studies, Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University
• Chair of the Public Relations committee of the Dutch Society for Sleep-Wake Research (NSWO)
• Board member, Dutch Society for Sleep-Wake Research (NSWO)
• Member of the Dutch Knowledge Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ( Landelijk  Kenniscentrum Kinder- en Jeugdpsychiatrie) – Sleep disturbances committee
• Member of the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition
• Member of the Institute for the Study of Education and Human Development
• Reviewer for international scientific journals
• Reviewer for national and international granting agencies

Publications

Activities