229 About the author Erik was born on November 10, 1992. Although born prematurely, Erik was a lively, eager to learn and social child who loved action. At a young age Erik was interested in circus school and when he was 9 he went on tour through Scandinavia with Cirque Nouveau. After primary school Erik attended the Christian Gymnasium Beyers Naudé in Leeuwarden and his dean interested him in the study of Psychobiology. Because Erik did not have the right qualifications to study psychobiology, he obtained a physics diploma during a gap year in adult education. After that he was able to start studying at the University of Amsterdam. Psychobiology was a great match with his interests because the study taught him a lot about how the human brain works and how little we often know about its mysteries. His studies went well and he managed to successfully complete his Bachelor’s degree without delay after finishing an internship at the psychiatry department of the VU medical centre. For his Master’s degree he focused on psychopharmacology and pathophysiology of the central nervous system. He completed internships both at the UVA, studying the effects of early life stress on the immune landscape of the brain, as well as at the VU starting his research on TSPO. Obtaining his master’s degree went well and after two years he received his diploma. Immediately after graduating, he was able to start his PhD research at the Amsterdam UMC – Location VUmc. His research focuses on visualizing microglia in neurodegenerative disease using PET. Under the guidance of prof. dr. Paul van der Valk, prof. dr. Sandra Amor, and dr. David Owen he has further developed himself into a real scientific researcher, who has successfully completed his PhD. He will continue to develop and chase his interests in the Neurobiology and Ageing group at the BPRC as a postdoctoral researcher.
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