Lucianne Groenink, PhD, is associate professor of Psychopharmacology at the faculty of Science (Utrecht University). She is principal investigator at the Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) and affiliated partner of the UMC Brain Center Utrecht. She is a registered Pharmacologist (Dutch Pharmacology Society), fellow member of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology and Ambassador of SYRCLE (Systematic review and Meta-analysis of animal experimentation). She also serves as vice-chair of the Ethics Review Board, Faculty of Science & Faculty of Geosciences.
Her research group aims to improve the drug treatment of psychiatric disorders. For this, she has acquired and supervised several grants from (inter)national scientific organisations1, and has raised substantial subsidies from pharmaceutical industries2. Besides experimental studies, her group is engaged in meta-science to enhance the responsible conduct of research3. Among others, her group performs systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This synthesis of evidence can help identify potential drug targets, improve research methodology and reduce animal experimentation.
Groenink is Programme coordinator of the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPS), a three year international Bachelor's programme on drug discovery and development. She teaches bachelor, master and graduate courses at the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and frequently lectures in expert meetings and workshops. In addition to neuroscience and pharmacology, Lucianne also lectures on research integrity to empower PhD students at the graduate school of Life Sciences.
Groenink studied Biomedical Sciences at Leiden University. She obtained her PhD in 1996, working on the relationship between anxiety, stress hormones and behaviour. Currently her research focuses on early life stress and mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability in relation to neurodevelopment. Her research group is embedded in the strategic themes Dynamics of Youth and Life Sciences at Utrecht University.
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1 Selected grants and projects:
NWO TTW- Nutricia partnership (2018) Maternal immune activation during pregnancy –a dietary intervention to restore immune fitness in the offspring”in collaboration with Dr A Hogenkamp (UU) and dr T Plosch (UMCG).
ZonMW program MKMD (2020) Pharmacology of the fear-potentiated startle; a sytematic review and meta-analysis.
NWO Food, Cognition & Behavior program (2014). Prenatal maternal infection: how diet influences behaviour in the offspring. Post-doctoral position, in collaboration with Dr A Hartog (Nutricia Research), Dr A Hogenkamp (UU) and Dr L de Witte (UMCU).
ZonMW Program Translational Research (2014) Co-applicant, in collaboration with Dr JMP Baas (Fac Social Sciences), Dr DC Cath (Altrecht), Prof AJLM van Balkom (Ingeest VuMC) and Dr N Batelaan (Ingeest VuMC). Augmentation treatment with cannabidiol in combination with exposure therapy in treatment refractory social anxiety and panic disorder patients.
2 Industrial partners: including Servier France; Grunenthal, Germany; Abbvie, Germany; Neurolixis, USA; Nutricia Research, Netherlands
3 Ambassador of the Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory animal Experimentation (Syrcle; 2015-present)). Organiser ZonMW-funded in house workshop on systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies (2015). Guest editor of a Special issue on translational vaue of animal models (Eur J Pharmacol 2015) and on sex differences in pharmacology (Eur J Pharmacol; 2020-2021).