Utrecht Brain Expert Meeting: Growing into Adulthood - Rethinking Transitions

The transition from childhood to adulthood is much more than a change in age or legal responsibilities. it is also a critical window for the developing brain. During this period young people face new biological, psychological, social, and societal demands and while paediatric research has embraced the concept of growing into deficit, we should also ask: what happens in the brain and beyond as young people grow into adulthood?

New expectations around independence, education, work, relationships, and participation may reveal vulnerabilities that were previously hidden. For those growing up with chronic conditions or neurodevelopmental differences, this transition also marks the shift from paediatric to adult healthcare and research; a critical moment that calls for well-coordinated collaboration across disciplines and care settings.

Each presentation is 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for questions. Of course, the afternoon program will be followed by a small networking reception. 

Programme

15:00 Odilia Laceulle
A developmental perspective on mental health during the transition to adulthood. Odilia researches how individual characteristics and social environment mutually influence each other during the development of children and young people, and how this interplay contributes to the emergence, persistence, and recovery of psychosocial problems

15:30 Hans Breur & Heleen van der Zwaan
A perspective from pediatric cardiology: the importance of the brain in heart disease - throughout life. Hans and Heleen will discuss heart-brain relations and their impact on social and societal participation and hence, the importance of  smooth transitions from pediatric to adult healthcare. 

16:00 Lisethe Meijer & Tom Snijders
Age: biology or barrier? Shaping the transition in neuro-oncology

16:30 Drinks reception 

This meeting is part of the new expert meeting series of Utrecht Brain. The dates and topics of the next meetings will be shared during the course of this year.