‘Once we understand how a treatment works, we can try to further optimize that mechanism. This allows us to arrive at a much more effective treatment and prevent relapse.’

Iris Engelhard is professor of Clinical Psychology

Engelhard leads an innovative research program addressing academic and clinical questions about post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders. In this way, she contributes greatly to more knowledge and understanding about the causes and treatments of these disorders. With her approach, Engelhard bridges the gap between fundamental research and practice, thereby aiming to improve mental health.

Engelhard is also director of the Experimental Psychopathology Lab Utrecht, and is affiliated with the Altrecht Academic Anxiety Center. She is a cognitive behavioral therapist and Health Care Psychologist. She is also a teacher in the Clinical Psychology program, Social and Health Psychology research master's program, and the postdoctoral clinical program "Opleiding tot gezondheidszorgpsycholoog". Engelhard is a member of the Open Science Community Utrecht.

Engelhard obtained her PhD at Maastricht University and was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University. She is also a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and a member of the Dutch-Flemish collaborative research program Experimental Psychopathology. She received several prestigious awards, including all three grants in the Talent Program of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Reseach (NWO), VENI, VIDI and VICI, as well as a TOP grant from ZONMW.