In my current postdoctoral project, we will develop an impact pathway in co-creation with youth who have had contact with the police, applying a youth participatory action research (Y-PAR) framework throughout all empirical and design phases. Drawing on neurocognitive background knowledge, the project aims to identify which high-stress environments are most suitable for experiential learning to learn to flexibly regulate emotions through VR-based biofeedback training.

In my prior postdoc project, I investigated the association between mental and physical wellbeing of early adolescents through youth perspectives, using co-creation to develop intervention programs aimed at fostering both aspects of wellbeing. A central focus of this work was the identification of barriers and facilitators shaping wellbeing-related behaviors.

During my PhD I identified underlying mechanisms contributing to individual differences in brain structure, developmental changes, and function. I also explored the effects of an enriched and deprived environment on the direction of brain developmental trajectories from middle childhood to early adolescence (aged 7-14).