prof. dr. Barbara Franke

About Barbara Franke

Professor Barbara Franke is the head of the Researchlab for Multifactorial Diseases at the department of Human Genetics of the Radboud University Medical Center and the leader of the Radboud Research Theme 'Neurodevelopmental Disorders'. She is a PI at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. Her research is directed at understanding the biology of psychiatric disorders, especially that of ADHD and autism in children and adults. She is an expert in the molecular genetics of these complex disorders, but also employs bioinformatics and cognomics approaches as well as animal research in the fruit fly to understand the pathways from gene to disease. She leads the Cognomics Initiative on research linking genetics, brain and cognition in Nijmegen. She founded and leads the International Multicentre persistent ADHD CollaboraTion (IMpACT) and is a founding member and member of the Central Support Group of the large multi-national ENIGMA consortium on brain imaging genetics. She coordinates the EU FP7-funded international Aggressotype Consortium and the Horizon2020-funded MiND European Training Network, and leads workpackages in several other EU-funded consortia, the Health projects TACTICS, IMAGEMEND, CoCA, and also participates in the IMI2 project PRISM. She received prestigious Vici and Aspasia awards from the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research and the Hermesdorf Prize for international activities from the Radboud University.

Education

• 1985 - 1988 Secondary school (Gymnasiale Oberstufe, Goetheschule Wetzlar, Germany)
• 1988 - 1991 University (Biology, Vordiplom, Justus Liebig Universität, Giessen, Germany)
• 1991 - 1995 University (Biology, direction: Molecular and Chemical Biology, Utrecht University, cum laude)
• 1999 PhD (Utrecht University, Laboratory for Physiological Chemistry). Title thesis: Rap and Ral in platelet signaling

Personal prizes & awards

• NWO Vici Personal Grant (1.5 million euros for research) (2013)
• Hermesdorfprize International (2013)
• Award from Radboud University for international media coverage for research (2012)
• NWO Aspasia Premium for excellent female researchers (150,000 euros for research) (2012)
• Top Center for Genetic and Metabolic Diseases (TGM): Lustrum Award for research and educational activities (2007)

Additional Functions

• 2015 - Member of Academia Europaea, and member of the reviewing board for new members Radboudumc
• 2014 - Leader of Radboud Research Theme 'Neurodevelopmental Disorders'
• 2015 - Member of the International Scientific Advisory Board of the German Centre for Developmental Psychiatry (Deutsches Zentrum fier Entwicklungspsychiatrie, D-ZEP), Frankfurt, Germany
• 2014 - Member of the User Committee of the Technology Foundation STW large-scale grant ‘ImaGene’ on population imaging genetics
• 2014 - Member of Editorial Advisory Board of The Lancet Psychiatry
• 2011 - Associate editor of the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics