Eating Disorders

BIOGRAPHY

Dr Martien Kas is Assistant Professor at Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. By means of interspecies genetics, Dr. Kas' research focuses on the identification of novel molecular genetic mechanisms regulating neurobehavioral traits relevant to eating disorders. Eating disorders are complex psychiatric disorders in which patients display a variety of behavioral traits, including obsessionality, increased anxiety, and hyperactivity. These traits are also seen in other psychiatric disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorders and depression, which are often co-morbid with eating disorders. His work combines three different experimental strategies:
1. Fine-grained analysis of behaviour using both well-established pre-clinical models for eating disorders as well as novel automated behavioural phenotyping methods for
related endophenotypes
2. Applying mouse genetic strategies to determine the genes underlying these neurobehavioral traits
3. Integration of mouse and human genetic findings Dr Kas has authored over 40 peer-reviewed articles and has been invited to give numerous international lectures. He is President of the Dutch Behavioural Genetics Contact group and a member of the review committee for Scientific Program for the yearly European Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology meeting. Dr Kas has received Research excellence Award from the American Sleep Research Society & American Sleep Disorders Association and the Figon poster award.