Contact details
Prof. Dr. D. (Damiaan) Denys
Academic Medical Center (AMC) of the University of Amsterdam
Department of Psychiatry (room PA.2-179)
Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam
Postal address: PO Box 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam
Phone: +31-20-8913899
Email: d.denys@amc.nl
Biography
Education
- 1984 -1989 Master (MSc) in Philosophy, University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium
- 1989 – 1996 Master (MD) in Medicine, University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium
- 1996 – 2002 Residency in Psychiatry, University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium
- 2000 - 2004 PhD in Psychiatry – cum laude, University Medical Centre (UMC) Utrecht, Netherlands
Current position
- 2007 - current Professor of Psychiatry, University of Amsterdam (UvA), Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2009 – current Team leader of research group ‘Neuromodulation and Behaviour’, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN), an institute of the Royal Netherlands, Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, Netherland (herseninstituut.nl)
Research focus
Damiaan Denys conducts research on anxiety and compulsivity. His scientific research is characterized by a translational approach combining clinical psychiatry, philosophy and neuroscience. A particular focus of his research is the development of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for psychiatric disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, addiction and eating disorders.
Scientific Experience
Damiaan Denys has published over 300 papers, 37 book chapters and 8 books. He published in a wide range of journals such as Nature, Nature Neuroscience, JAMA Psychiatry, Molecular psychiatry, and Biological psychiatry. [H-index: 57 (Google Scholar)] He supervised 25 completed PhD projects since 2005 and currently supervises 25 PhD students. Total grant amount in euros is ca. 15.000K (consortium); allocated to own group is ca. 5.000K. His major scientific contributions include the development of the dopamine hypothesis and reward theory of OCD, the first controlled trials of DBS in OCD and MDD, the first description and classification of misophonia as a psychiatric disorder, and immune effects of SSRs with a patent on Allogeneic immune response control: WO Patent 2,013,076,245, (2013)
Managerial Experience
- 2007-current Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the AMC Amsterdam, (250-300 FTE)
- 2007-current Chair of the Neuro-division at the AMC Amsterdam
- 2016 – current Member of the executive committee of the ECNP
- 2016 – 2019 President of the Dutch Psychiatric Association (NVvP) (3800 members)
- 2012 - 2018 Chair of the Senate of the University of Amsterdam (UVA)
- 2010 – 2018 Member of the Supervisory Board of Ipse de Bruggen
Public Lectures
Damiaan Denys regularly gives public lectures at the interface of philosophy, psychiatry and neurosciences on topics including fear, control, freedom, deep brain stimulation, happiness and psychiatry. He gives on average 50 talks a year, nationally and internationally. (speakersacademy.com)
Media
Damiaan Denys is frequently requested for various radio and television programs. He was invited for Zomergasten (2015) and is regularly part of productions of Human and VPRO.
Theatre
Since 2013 Denys brings science into theater. He wrote a monologue on anxiety and freedom, which he performed on stage over 60 times in theatres throughout the Netherlands and Belgium. He played at Lowlands in 2015. (damiaandenys.com)
Columns & Essays
Damiaan Denys regularly writes columns and essays. He was columnist for “De Psychiater” (2016-2018) and wrote fortnightly columns for the science section of “Het Parool” (2016-2018).