prof. dr. M.J.H. (Martien) Kas

Education:

1999:  PhD degree  in Behavioral Neuroscience. PhD thesis entitled “Sleep and circadian timekeeping in Octodon degus; behavioral and photic determinants of activity phase preference. ”Promoters: Prof. dr. Dr. Dale Edgar (Stanford University, California, USA) and Prof. dr. Dr. Serge Daan (University of Groningen, the Netherlands).

1994:  Master's degree  in Biology, specialization in Neurobiology, Psychopharmacology, and Ethology. Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

 

Positions:

2016-present: Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

2012-2016:  Associate Professor  of Translational Behavioral Genetics, Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands

2004–2009:  Coordinator  Behavioral Genomics section, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands

2004:   Visiting Scientist; Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Center, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. I have established an international collaboration with this department in relation to human genetics or neuro-psychiatric disorders. I was a visiting scientist in the laboratories of Prof. dr. Dr. DA Collier and Dr. Leonard C. Schalkwyk.

2003-2012:  Assistant Professor and Independent Group Leader, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands

1999–2003:  Postdoctoral Fellow, Section Neural Integration, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. RAH Adan.

1995–1999:  Graduate student, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, USA. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. DM Edgar and Department of Animal Behavior, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. S. Daan

 

Grants:

2022: ZonMW, BIRD-NL, (principal investigator)

2022: ZonMW, Nederlands Dementie Preventie Initiatief (NDPI) (principal investigator)

2021: Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU grant, PRISM2 (project coordinator)

2020: Horizon 2020 project, PSY-PGx (principal investigator)

2019: Horizon 2020 project, CANDY (principal investigator)

2018:  Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU grant, AIMS-2-Trials (principal investigator)

2017: ZonMW, Memorabel grant (project leader)

2017: Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU grant, EQIPD (principal investigator)

2017: ZonMW TOP grant (NWO) (principle investigator)

2016: Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU grant, ROADMAP (principal investigator)

2016: Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU grant, PRISM (project coordinator)

2016: Dutch Brain Foundation Grant, SMARD (co-investigator)

2015: Dynamics of Youth seed money grant, BeHapp (principal investigator)

2014: ECNP network grant (steering committee member)

2013: SANS project grant (principal investigator)

2012: Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU grant, EU-AIMS (principal investigator).

2010: Neuroscience and Cognition grant, University Utrecht, (principal investigator)

2009: SANS project grant (principal investigator)

2009: Wellcome trust grant, WTCCC3, (co-investigator)

2009: EFSD / MSD - European Basic Research Program (co-investigator)

2009: COST Action, SYSGENET (principal investigator)

2008: VIDI grant ZonMW (personal fellowship)

2007: National Epilepsy Foundation Grant (co-investigator)

2006: Research grant: ABC Genomics Center (principal investigator)

2006: Marie Curie - Research training network (principal investigator)

2005: Marie Curie Fellowship (researcher in charge)

2005: NWO-British Council: UK-Netherlands Partnership Program in Science Grant (host laboratory)

2005: ZonMW grant, Early evaluation of Medical Innovations (co-investigator)

2002: EMBO fellowship (host laboratory)

1999: NWO grant (co-investigator)

 

Prizes / Awards:

2019: Translational Neuroscience Prize 2019, Dutch Neuroscience meeting, recipient on behalf of the PRISM consortium

2015: UMCU Research ICT showcase 2015 award (BEHAPP smartphone application)

2007: ZonMW VIDI-award from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research

2006: Figon poster award from the Netherlands Federation of Innovative Drug Research

2003: Rudolf Magnus Institute poster award on Behavioural Genomics research

2000: Research excellence Award from the American Sleep Research Society and American Sleep Disorders Association

Academic activities:

Duties as a scientific expert

Guest Editor and Managing Editor of a special issue of Neuroscience & Biobehavioural reviews (2017-2019)

Topic Review co-Chair for the International Society for Autism Research 2018 Annual Meeting

Steering committee member of the ECNP Preclinical Data Network (since 2014)

Editorial Board member of Mammalian Genome (since 2012)

Panel member for review and final interviews or VENI grants for ZonMW (2010)

Member of the management committee of an EU-COST project: SYSGENET - European systems genetics network for the study of complex genetic human diseases using mouse genetic populations (2009-2013).

Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel (Basic and Clinical Neuroscience) or the European College of Neuro-psychopharmacology (since 2009)

Member of the Scientific Program Committee for the annual ECNP congress (2015)

Selected Faculty Member or Faculty of 1000 Medicine (since 2008).

Grant reviewer for the National VENI, VIDI, and VICI program or ZonMW (The Netherlands), for the Welcome Trust (UK), for Medical Research Council (UK), and for the Israel Science Foundation (Israel) (since 2005)

Member of national and international PhD thesis review committees, including four as invited examiner in the United Kingdom (Oxford University, Harwell MRC and King's College) and one in Lausanne (since 2003).

Peer reviewer for more than 25 journals, including Molecular Psychiatry, PLoS Genetics, Biological Psychiatry, Journal of Neuroscience, Physiological Genomics, PLoS One, Genes, Brain and Behavior (since 2000).

 

Positions of trust:

President (since 2022),  Executive Committee member (since 2013), Secretary (2016-2019), President elect (2019-2022) of the European College of NeuroPsychopharmacology (ECNP)

Steering committee member (since 2011) and Chair (2017) or the ECNP junior scientist workshops in Nice.

Steering committee member and treasurer of the Dutch Neuroscience meeting (since 2010)

Board member and treasurer of the Dutch Neurofederation (since 2009)

Member of the organizing committee of the International Brain and Neural Genetics Society meeting (2007)

President of the Dutch Behavioral Genetics Association (since 2007).

 

International activities:

International collaborations and positions:

2021-2024: Project coordinator of the PRISM 2 project, a EU funded project (€8 MEU budget) with 16 EU partners, including expert clinical and preclinical researcher from academia and larger pharmaceutical companies (Boehringer Ingelheim, Psychogenics) and Small Medium Enterprises.  Following a successful PRISM 1 project that I also coordinated, the consortium received subsequent funding to validate and expand the findings from the clinical study, to test for causality of the identified novel pathophysiological link between a brain network and social dysfunction across brain disorders, and to translate and communicate the findings and this new concept to stakeholders, including regulatory agencies (European Medicine Agency (EMA)) and the general public.

2016-2019: Project coordinator of the PRISM 1 project, a EU funded project (> €16 MEU budget) with 25 EU partners, including expert clinical and preclinical researcher from academia and larger pharmaceutical companies (Eli Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Novartis, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Takeda) and Small Medium Enterprises. This project aims to develop a quantitative biological approach to the understanding of neuropsychiatric diseases that aims to revitalise the discovery and development of more effective treatments for patients with a brain disorder.

2020-present: CANDY consortium member and work package leader.  In the CANDY project, we investigate the biological links between neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disability (ID), motor problems, language disorders and co-existing somatic illnesses and how treatment and monitoring of affected patients can be improved.

2019-present: Chair and board member of the European College of NeuroPsychopharmacology (ECNP) network task force.  Networks are the scientific multi-disciplinary pan-European platforms for research collaboration in the ECNP community. The 20 different ECNP Networks and Thematic working groups bring together researchers with different expertise across Europe to foster successful collaboration and sharing of ideas, discoveries and practices in translational neuroscience. The overarching aim of ECNP Networks is to facilitate the collection of essential biological, clinical and therapeutic data in a standardised way to guarantee their robustness, reproducibility and translatability.

2016-present: EQIPD consortium member and work package leader. The EQIPD consortium aims to inform the design of future preclinical studies to minimise variance and  enhance  reproducibility  by compiling  preclinical  research  data  across industry and academia to determine the primary variables in study design and data analysis that affect data quality and levels of robustness.

2014-present: Steering committee member of the ECNP Preclinical Data Network and Global Preclinical data forum that aim to provide a forum for preclinical data sharing and interpretation to enhance its utility for clinical research and drug development worldwide. 

2012-present: Consortium member of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). The PGC is one of the largest and most innovative and productive experiments in the history of psychiatry. The central idea of the PGC is leverage global collaboration to advance genetic discovery of biologically, clinically, and therapeutically meaningful insights. The PGC studies 11 psychiatric disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, autism, eating disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia. These psychiatric disorders have exceptionally high morbidity, mortality, and personal/societal costs. As nearly all are syndromes that lack pathological or biological defining features, understanding their genetic basis is one of the most significant problems in medicine. Participated in a variety of PGC manuscripts published in Nature genetics (2020) and in Cell (2019)

2012-2023: EU-AIMS and Aims-2-trials consortium member which is a novel collaboration between organisations that represent affected individuals and their families (Autism Speaks), academia and industry. The aim is to join forces for the development and assessment of novel treatment approaches for autism. As Principal Investigator in this grant, my role is to contribute translational phenotyping methods (from mouse to human) and increase our fundamental knowledge on the neurobiology of sensory processing and social behaviour.

2011-2013: International collaboration with Prof. Dr. N. Yamamoto, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

2007-present: Member of the Genetic Consortium for Anorexia Nervosa (GCAN). GCAN represents researchers and clinicians from 16 countries around the world. I have been actively involved in the study-design and the stratification of phenotype data from patients and controls.  The first results of this global cooperative effort were released  early 2014 (Molecular Psychiatry, 2014) and recently in 2019 (Nature genetics, 2019).

2010-2012: International collaboration with Prof. Dr. R. Williams, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

2009-2013: Management committee member of SYSGENET, an EU-funded action for the establishment of system genetics approaches in mice to unravel complex human diseases. In this role, I executed a number of dedicated workshops, management committee meetings, and exchange programs to build a system genetics infrastructure in Europe. 

2004: Visiting Scientist at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK (Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Center). I have established an international collaboration with this department that focuses on human genetic research of neuro-psychiatric disorders. I took this initiative to build a bridge between animal and human research, bringing my expertise from the development of rodent models to the domain of human disease. As part of this collaboration, I was a visiting scientist in the laboratories of Prof. Dr. D.A. Collier and Dr. Leonard C. Schalkwyk for two months. In addition, we continue to exchange students and PhD students to further integrate our observations from both human and mouse genetics.

1995 – 1999: PhD research performed at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences). Supervisor: Prof. Dr. D.M. Edgar.  I performed my Ph.D. research at Stanford University (California, USA) for four years. Here, I investigated the neurobiology of EEG sleep-wake regulation in mammalian rodent species by using longitudinal electrophysiological and automated behavioural observation methods. Furthermore, I studied the neurophysiology of photic and of behavioural control of circadian timekeeping in these species. 

 

Invited seminars (a selection from over 50 lectures in chronological order):

Keynote lectures:

2022: Keynote speaker at the virtual SHARED consortium meeting. "Social factors in cognitive decline and dementia: towards an early intervention approach"

2014: Seminar series on biological mechanisms and biomarkers of child psychiatric disorders, University of Frankfurt, Germany; "Dissecting Autism heterogeneity in developing mice."

2010: Swedish Medical Genetics Society, University of Uppsala, Sweden; "Animal model systems in psychiatric disease."

2008: Lausanne Neurobiology Seminars, Lausanne, Switzerland. 'Genetics of behavioral domains across the neuropsychiatric spectrum; or mice and men '

2008: Keynote speaker at the ECNP Workshop on Neuro-Psychopharmacology, Nice, France. 'Novel approaches in behavioral genomics research'

 

A selection of other international lectures:

2022: Invited speaker, lecture title, “Pushing the boundaries of precision psychiatry: What PRISM has taught us”; 30th European Congress of Psychiatry (virtual meeting)

2021: Invited plenary speaker, lecture title, “Linking neuropsychiatry to biology: a transdiagnostic and translational approach”; X International CIBERSAM Forum for Research in Psychiatry (virtual meeting)

2021:  Invited speaker, lecture title, “Digital measures of daily social functioning across neuropsychiatric disorders”; “Get digital" seminar series of the ECNP network on Digital Health Applied to the Clinical Research of Brain Disorders Network

2021: Invited speaker, lecture title, “Linking neuropsychiatry to quantitative biology” . Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science (IBCS) seminar series of the University of Exeter.

2021: Invited speaker, lecture title, “The evolving landscape of digital tools to assess patients with schizophrenia”; congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Lisbon, Portugal

2021: Invited speaker, lecture title, “Transdiagnostic markers for social dysfunction across schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease as outcome measures”; 17th annual ISCTM Scientific meeting (virtual meeting)

2021: Invited speaker, lecture title, “The reverse translation of aquantitative neuropsychiatric framework into preclinical studies”, Workshop EBRA cluster PREMOS consortium.

2020: Invited speaker, lecture title, “Lessons learned from digital technologies”, virtual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology

2020: Invited speaker, lecture title “Linking neuropsychiatry to quantitative biology”, virtual congress of the European Psychiatry Association

2020: Invited speaker, lecture title, “The PRISM Project: A Quantitative Biological Approach Across Neuropsychiatric Disorders”, virtual FENS forum congress.

2019: Invited Speaker at the EURON advanced workshop: Drugs and the Brain, Greece.

2019: Invited lecture at the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) of the University of Trento, Italy

2019: Science café: Hoe samenzijn je gezondheid beïnvloedt, Lifelines, Groningen

2019: Invited lecture at the ECNP New Frontiers Meeting in Digital Health, Nice, France

2018: Invited speaker at AETIONOMY symposium and IMI neurodegeneration initiatives

2018: Invited speaker at the European Congres of Psychiatry in Nice, France.

2017: Invited speaker at the EURON workshop "Psychopharmacology: from laboratory to clinic" in Heraklion, Crete.

2017: Invited speaker that ECNP congress, Paris, France.

2017: Invited speaker at the International society for CNS clinical trials and methodology, Paris, France.

2017:  Invited speaker at the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) Summer Meeting

2017: Invited speaker and lecture at the Preclinical Data Forum Training Workshop, Heidelberg, Germany.

2017: Invited speaker at the Mediterranean Neuroscience Conference, Malta

2016: Invited speaker at the 19th Biennial International Pharmaco-EEG Society Meeting, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

2016: Invited speaker at the 29th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress, Vienna, Austria.

2015: Invited speaker at the Max Planck Institute Munich, Germany

2015: Invited speaker at the International Summer school of Neuroscience, Catania, Italy.

2014: Invited speaker at the Seminar series on biological mechanisms and biomarkers of child psychiatric disorders, University of Frankfurt, Germany; ‘Dissecting Autism heterogeneity in developing mice.’

2014: Invited speaker at the Annual Conference of the German Genetics Society, Munsbach, Luxembourg. 

2014: Invited speaker at the FENS Summer School on Neurodevelopmental Psychiatric Disorders, Bertinoro, University Center Of Bologna, Italy.

2013: Invited speaker at the Medical Research Council Harwell, United Kingdom.

2012: Invited speaker at the Scientific meeting Sysgenet, Bilbao, Spain.

2012: Invited speaker at the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology Congress, Vienna, Austria.

2011: Invited speaker at the Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.

2011: Invited speaker at the International OCD meeting, Vancouver, Canada.

2010: Invited speaker at the Swedish Medical Genetics Society, University of Uppsala, Sweden; ‘Animal model systems in psychiatric disease.’2010: European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology International Congress, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

2010: E Invited speaker at the EU-Casimir policy meeting, London, United Kingdom.

2009: Invited speaker at the Eating Disorder Research Society meeting, Brooklyn, New York, USA.

2009: Invited speaker at the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology International Congress, Istanbul, Turkey

2008: Invited speaker at the Lausanne Neurobiology Seminars, Lausanne, Switzerland. ‘Genetics of behavioural domains across the neuropsychiatric spectrum; of mice and men’

2008: Keynote speaker at the ECNP Workshop on Neuro-Psychopharmacology, Nice, France.  ‘Novel approaches in behavioural genomics research’2007: Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom.

2005: Invited speaker at the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology International Congress, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

2004: Invited speaker at the European Winter Brain Conference, France.

2003: Invited speaker at the European Brain and Behaviour Society, Barcelona, Spain.

2003: Invited speaker at the International meeting of eating disorders, Florence, Italy.

2002: Invited speaker at the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology International Congress, Barcelona, Spain. 

2000: Invited speaker at the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

 

Organizer symposia and targeted expert meetings:

2022: Organized a symposium, entitled, ‘Neuroscience in an enriched environment: Fostering relevant biological variation to increase validity of animal experiments’, at the Dutch Neuroscience Meeting, the Netherlands.

2020: Organized and chaired a symposium, entitled, “PRISM: a trans-diagnostic quantitative biology approach to neuropsychiatry”, virtual ECNP congress.

2011-2018: Organizer and Treasure of the annual Dutch Neuroscience Meeting.

2017 - 2019: Organised and chaired the ECNP innovation meeting on new approaches to psychiatric drug development, Nice, France.

2012-2020: Organized and Chaired (2016-2020) the ECNP Early Career Scientist workshop, Nice, France.

2015: Drug discovery in Neuroscience:  Translatability of preclinical data, ECNP congress, Amsterdam.

2014: Organized and chaired a symposium, entitled, ‘Targeting synaptic defects in Autism Spectrum Disorders’, at the Dutch Neuroscience Meeting, the Netherlands.

2013: Organized and chaired a three-day workshop on ‘Genetic Mouse Models for Human Disease’; financed by the International Neuro-Informatics Coordinating Facility.

2011:  Organized and chaired an International Workshop on Cross-species analysis of Schizophrenia in Helsinki financed by the EU.

2010:  Organized and chaired a session, entitled, The Neurobiology of eating disorders, at the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology Congress, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

2009:  Organized and chaired a session, entitled, Genetic regulation of behavioural domains across the neuropsychiatric spectrum: of mice and men at the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology Congress, Istanbul, Turkey.

2009:  Organized and chaired a two days Targeted Expert Meeting on Translational research for Psychiatry at the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology Congress, Istanbul, Turkey.

2008-2011: Organized and chaired the yearly Dutch Behavioural Genetics meeting, the Netherlands.

2006:  Organized and chaired a session, entitled: the genetic dissection of complex behaviours, of mice and men at the European Winter Brain Conference, Switzerland.

2004+2005:  Organized and chaired the Brain Center Rudolf Magnus Summer school, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012: Organized and chaired symposia on the genetic dissection of complex behaviours at the Endo-Psycho-Neuro Meeting, the Netherlands.