Janna van Belle
Relevant Experience
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Used data-driven analysis approaches to analyse trends in large and complex datasets.
Experienced in statistical model testing.
Up to date with literature in fields of cognitive ageing, development and education.
Accustomed working in a team and presenting to people from different backgrounds, with
different levels of experience: I present monthly to a team of multi disciplinary scientists
involved in the project I currently work on, have presented my work at international
conferences, and have explained general neuroscience to the general public during
Cambridge Science night event hosted at the MRC-CBU.
• Recently followed one day course in data visualisation by the Guardian.
• Fluent in English and Dutch.
Employment
Post doctoral researcher at the MRC- Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge (UK)
(August 2014-now).
• Research using epidemiological, behavioural, and neuroimaging data to investigate how
individuals can best retain cognitive abilities into old age
• Part of a large scale multi-site collaborative research project between the MRC CBSU and
Cambridge University funded by the BBSRC.
• Used different functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) analysis approaches to
investigate neural activation related to changes in cognition across the lifespan.
• Used latent variable modelling and hierarchical regression approaches to investigate the
influence of demographic and lifestyle factors on changes in cognitive performance across the
lifespan.
Education
PhD. Utrecht University, the Netherlands. PhD in Neuroscience “Developmental aspects of ADHD”
under supervision of Prof. Sarah Durston. (2007- april 2015).
MSc. Utrecht University, the Netherlands. I have spent two years working at the MRC Cognition and
Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge (UK), to obtain research experience. 2004-2006
Ba Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Psychology. 2001-2004
Relevant skills
Computing
• Use of R to explore, analyse and visualise data.
• Writing and running of Matlab scrips and functions for image processing and data analysis.
• Experienced in the use of standard IT software including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Adobe.
Problem Solving and Analytical Skills
• During my PhD research I introduced an new analysis method to the lab that allowed analysis of
data that we would otherwise not have been able to use due to a MRI acquisition artefact.
• Employed a novel analysis approach on a large set of existing behavioural data, for which I
sourced and learned specialistic analysis software.
Teamwork and Leadership
running research projects: I have written research proposals, ran and
• Experience in all aspects of
managed multiple concurrent research projects and successfully communicated results in written
and oral reports. Used to working to deadlines.
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Co-chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee at the MRC-CBU. I composed the Unit wide
survey to assess employee satisfaction with workplace and awareness of existing rules and
regulations with regards to equal opportunities. Initiated changes in the unit’s organisation and
recruitment following the Unit’s application for the Athena Swan Charter for Women in Science
award. (The CBU received a bronze award in April 2015).
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• As part of my PhD I worked closely with colleagues to recruit, test, and maintain a database
500+ subjects, data of which were used across different studies in the lab.
• Initiated collaborations with researchers from different backgrounds. One of these collaborations
resulted in a re-analysis of an existing dataset which led to a paper in a high impact journal.
• Worked together with colleagues on acquisition and analysis of data: co-author on seven peer
reviewed journal articles.
Organisation
organisation of a very successful 3 day workshop ‘Challenges and Methods in
• Helped
Developmental Imaging’, Amsterdam 18-20th of may 2009.
• Over a two year period chaired the ‘journal club’, a weekly meeting within the department on
relevant topics in neuroimaging (2009-2011).
Successfully
supervised students during my PhD
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Communication
• Well developed presentation skills: presented on a monthly basis the results of ongoing analysis to
people from various professional backgrounds and with different levels of experience.
• Excellent written communication skills: three first author papers in leading academic journals, PhD
thesis.
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Publications
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Van Belle, J., van Hulst, B. M., & Durston, S. (2015). Developmental differences in intra-individual
variability in children with ADHD and ASD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied
Disciplines.Advance online publication: Doi 10.1111/jcpp.12417
Van Belle, J., van Raalten, T., Bos, D., Zandbelt, B., Oranje, B., & Durston, S. (2014). Capturing the
dynamics of response variability in the brain in ADHD. NeuroImage: Clinical, 7, 132–141.
Van Belle, J., Vink, M., Durston, S., & Zandbelt, B. B. (2014). Common and unique neural networks for
proactive and reactive response inhibition revealed by independent component analysis of functional
MRI data. NeuroImage, 103C, 65–74.
Referees
Academic references are available on request.
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