Lara Wierenga
Assistant professor
- Name
- L.M. Wierenga Ph.D.
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 3787
- l.m.wierenga@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-9362-563x
Lara Wierenga studies the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the development of the brain structure in children and adolescents. With her work she tries to understand why development disorders such as ADHD or autism spectrum disorders are more prevalent in boys than in girls. She is also the author of Atlas of our Brain, a popular science book in which she uses infographics to make neuroscience accessible to a wide audience.
More information about Lara Wierenga
News
-
Music to our ears: How playing an instrument affects the adolescent brain -
Psychology Connected on gender differences: 'More research done on extraterrestrial life than the female body' -
Video: Why more women have ADHD than you think -
Four projects awarded science communication grants -
Lockdown impacted brain development in young people -
Rethinking sex in neuroscience of mental health -
When you know how your brain works, you better understand who you are -
Lina van Drunen wins best poster prize at the international Flux Society Congress -
YAL Outreach Grants to tackle disinformation -
It is a myth that boys lag behind in brain development -
Green light for Leiden supercomputer -
A different take on differences between men’s and women’s brains
Leiden Psychology Blog
Lara Wierenga studies the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the development of the brain structure in children and adolescents. With her work she tries to understand why development disorders such as ADHD or autism spectrum disorders are more prevalent in boys than in girls. She is also the author of Atlas of our Brain, a popular science book in which she uses infographics to make neuroscience accessible to a wide audience.
Research on brain development
Lara received her PhD in 2016 at Brain Center Rudolph Magnus in Utrecht, where she focused on structural brain changes in typically and atypically developing children and adolescents. She continued this research at the University of California in San Diego, where she worked as a post-doc researcher to address developmental changes in brain connectivity. Her current research focuses on modeling brain development with longitudinal study designs in order to get a better understanding of genetic and environmental effects on brain development.
Grants
- 2023: Flux Young Investigator Award
- 2022: Leids Universitair Fonds Scientific Project 'Rethink sex in neuroscience of mental health' €35.000
- 2022: Young Academy Leiden outreach grant, co-applicant, podcast €1000
- 2021: Main applicant Lorentz workshop 'Rethink sex in neuroscience of mental health', budget €3.125 and €25.000 indirect expenses coverd by Leiden Univeristy and NWO-divisions
- 2020: co-applicant, SSH grant Connecting Data in Child Development (CD2), main applicant prof. dr. Chantal Kemner €640.000
- 2018: Collaboration Hendrik Muller prize prof. E.A. Crone, provided for the book: Een visuele ontdekkingstocht door het ontwikkelende brein. €5000,-
- 2016: KNAW ter Meulen Beurs for postdoctoral fellow at UCSD, San Diego €23.200,-
- 2014: Funding for strategic network development, Internationalization committee UMC Utrecht for visiting scholar at UCSD, San Diego €1.500,-
Awards
- 2017: Travel grant, Flux society conference meeting, Portland €826,-
- 2012: Rudolf Magnus poster award €100,-
Supervised PhD candidates
- MSc Lina van Drunen
- Dr. Mara van der Meulen
Relevant links
Leiden Psychology Blog
LinkedIn profile
Twitter profile
Research Gate profile
Website
Github
www.larawierenga.com
Assistant professor
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Psychologie
- Ontwikkelings- & Onderwijspsychologie