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I am Arnt Schellekens, and I am born on December 2nd, 1977 in Loon op Zand. Currently working as a psychiatrist at the department of psychiatry and appointed professor in Psychiatry and Addiction.
Where do you live?
I live just outside Nijmegen in a former farmhouse along the Waal dyke, together with my two boys, two cats and a lovely wife.
When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? Can you tell us something about your child years?
I was raised in a small village where the Efteling theme park is. So that is probably why my character is a mixture of the patient fakir, friendly gnomes, the curious Tom Thumb, and the opportunistic wolf. After spending days in the Efteling as a child, I decided to start working there as a teenager. However, my dream was become a farmer one day… I never thought of ending up as a professor in psychiatry one day.
What was your previous academic training, where did you study and why did you choose that study/those studies?
I studied medicine in Nijmegen. This was more of a coincidence, than a predetermined plan. My grades were good, so it seemed logical to apply for medicine. It is only after an elective block brain and behavior in my fourth year that I became really enthusiastic about psychiatry.
Which research discovery that you have made has made you most proud?
What started of as a single case report on the successful treatment of a single case of opiate addiction in a chronic pain patient led to a case series confirming our initial observations, and is now translated into a large clinical trial as part of a multicentre collaboration. With our approach we have been able to help many people struggling with their addiction, combined with chronic pain, and this approach is now increasingly adopted in the field of addiction care. To see these people improve in their condition is highly satisfying.
What is your most important scientific challenge in the coming 5 years?
To find ways to personalize addiction care. I am convinced that through a more personalized approach, current treatment can be improved. Patients with addictive behaviors are such a heterogeneous group of patients. We are only at the beginning of thinking about staging and profiling, and translating R-Doc principles to clinical perspectives. I hope I can contribute to that development.
If you could choose any mentor, who would this be?
Well the coordinator of the elective block Bart Ellenbroek should be the one. First because he introduced me into the fascinating world of neuroscience. Second, because to me he made the impression of being mainly driven by passion and enthusiasm and not by status or position.
What is your favorite topic: molecules - patients - population?
As a clinician patients of course. However, my drive is connecting basic science with clinical practice in order to advance our treatment options.
What should be changed / improved in the scientific community?
The way we fund our research projects and researchers. There is too much brain drain and waste of energy in writing highly interesting proposals that are never granted.
Is there anything we can wake you up for in the middle of the night?
Please don’t, I really love sleeping, and I am quite good at it.
What is the thing that irritates you most?
Things that wake me up during the night… I hate mosquitos in my bedroom.
Who would you like to have dinner with, if you had the chance?
My wife…
How do you relax from the demanding job being a scientist?
Making music, jogging, cycling and having fun with my kids. As a drummer I can really lose myself in hitting the crash and creating up tempo beats, or simply relax with a juicy bossanova.
Do you have a tip for our most junior scientists?
It is a bit of a cliche, but I think it is really important to follow your excitement and curiosity. There is no need to follow all opportunities, because there will always be new windows of opportunity. So be patient (as Fakir) and select those that match really well with the topics of your interest and curiosity (Tom Thumb), and then go for it (as the wolf). But in the end make sure you have fun with the people you are working with, in order to maintain your energy (as the gnomes).
Please add a photo which represents a remarkable event or experience you were part of? Please explain.
Education in Jakarta (Atma Jaya University) from before covid-19. Students participating in the Elective Block Addiction Medicine that we set up there and also did research on it. This research shows that this education not only contributes to the development of knowledge and skills, but also to the development of a more positive attitude towards patients with addiction problems.
