Stress-NL is a consortium of stress researchers in the Netherlands

Stay tuned for further updates via bluesky or LinkedIn @stress-nl

 

 

Mission

The stress system is ubiquitous in all species and is essential to adapt to a changing environment. Its relevance for humans and animals can therefore not be overestimated. Excessive or prolonged stress exposure increases the risk for a wide variety of mental and physical symptoms. Our current understanding of the stress system and variability in outcomes after stress exposure is limited. The Stress-NL consortium envisions that combining forces between researchers across the Netherlands ranging from preclinical to clinical stress research is needed to advance our knowledge and the stress field as a whole. The Stress-NL consortium aims to change the current way of performing stress studies, by combining knowledge, efforts, and sharing data, but also joining efforts to emphasize the importance of fundamental and applied stress research to funding agencies, the government and the general public.

 

The Stress-NL foundation is supported by a project grant from the Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and by the ‘Interdisciplinair Genootschap voor Biologische Psychiatrie’.
1

Provide a platform for interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge about stress research conducted within molecular, cellular, systems, behavioral, and clinical neurosciences across the Netherlands.

2

Provide a platform for exchange and integration of data to enable larger (meta) analyses of data acquired across multiple sites and research groups.

3

Provide a platform that can promote stress research toward stakeholders at national and European levels and beyond (grant agencies, charity foundations, etc.) as a focus area that is historically particularly strong within the Netherlands.

4

Provide a platform that can raise public awareness, knowledge, and trust of scientific research into stress and stress-related disorders

Annual Stress-nl meeting

Meeting 2025: Connecting the Dots

We look back on a fantastic 6th Stress-NL Annual Meeting 2025, where we truly ‘Connected the Dots’ in the field of stress research!

Hosted at the historic Het Trippenhuis, Amsterdam, the meeting welcomed a full house of students and early career to senior researchers, fostering insightful discussions, valuable networking opportunities, and inspiring presentations. The three sessions provided cutting-edge insights from biology, psychology, and physiology, examining stress both as a protective mechanism and as a potential risk factor for health. Discussions also addressed the integration of laboratory research with real-world applications, as well as key initiatives on stress resilience, large-scale databases, and collaborative consortia, offering new perspectives on the future of stress research.

Special congratulations to Dr. Renate Buisman, recipient of the 2025 Marian Joëls Young Investigator Award, and to Professor Dr. James Herman, recipient of the 2025 Ron de Kloet Award in honor of his outstanding contributions to the field of stress research. A big thank you to all our speakers, all 150 attendees, and to Het Trippenhuis for being such a great host, including a delicious lunch and vegetarian bitterballen!

We already look forward to welcoming you at the 7th Stress-NL Annual Meeting in early 2026.

Meeting 2022: past, present and future

The 4th annual symposium of Stress-NL took place on July 7, 2022, in Utrecht. The Stress-NL symposium was back after a gap of three years, and we are excited to have brought you an inspiring day covering past, present and future of stress research in the Netherlands.

Hightlights of this day included our keynote speaker and winner of this year’s Ron de Kloet award for excellent career contributions to stress research Prof. Dr. Stafford Lightman from the University of Bristol, who presented about rhythmic activation of endocrine response systems. Furthermore, Valeria Bonapersona, Anna Kuranova, Saskia Koch and Niek Brosens presented their published work from the past. Future prospects about recently funded projects were presented by Frank Meye and Sinan Gülöksüz. The talent of the moment included a series high-quality early-career pitches. Also, interaction was encouraged during our “speed dating for Science” lunch session and over a drink at the end of the day. Thanks to all participants that have contributed to this great day!

In the coming year we will keep on pursuing our mission of combining forces between stress researchers in The Netherlands. If you have any suggestions, ideas or wish to help us in our mission, please contact us. You can join our Mailing list or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on future events.

We hope to see you next year for the Stress-NL symposium.

Meeting 2018

The Stress-NL meeting of 2018 is over – what a great turnout we had.

This year the meeting was split into three symposia: ‘How to improve human stress measures in daily life’, ‘Stress as a translational concept: molecular and animal models’, and ‘New developments in the stress field’. In between the symposia, there was ample time to interact and discuss collaborations and future plans.

The short talks from speakers from all over The Netherlands illustrated the broad range of stress research that we are doing in the Netherlands. This year’s speakers were:

Mirjam van Zuiden, Frank Meye, Louk Vanderschuren, Eco de Geus, Angela Sarabdjitsingh, Alberto Pereira, Ahmed Mahfouz, Eva Naninck, Aniko Korosi, Sanne Booij, Wessel Kraaij, Judith Homberg, Manon Benders.

In addition, Prof. Carmen Sandi joined us all the way from Switzerland, to receive the first ever Ron de Kloet Award and give a talk on ‘Stress and the individual’.

In the coming year we will keep on pursuing our mission of combining forces between stress researchers in The Netherlands. If you have any suggestions, ideas or wish to help us in our mission, please contact us. You can join our Mailing list  to keep up to date on future events.

We hope to see you next year for the Stress-NL meeting of 2019!

Meeting 2024: Building Bridges

The 5th annual symposium has take place on January 25, 2024 at basis voor actuele kunst, BAK, in Utrecht. The topic of this year’s symposium was “Building Bridges: Highlighting Stress Research from an Interdisciplinary Perspective”.

The day had have three interactive sessions that consisted of several high-quality early-career pitches and an introductory talk by one of our main speakers (Dr. Willem Frankenhuis, Dr. Eiko Fried and Prof. Judith Homberg) followed by an interactive discussion. Furthermore, awardees Dr. Milou Sep (Marian Joëls Young Investigator award) and Prof. Sonia Lupien (Ron de Kloet Senior Investigator award) have inspired us by presenting their valuable insights from their careers. The social and “Meet the Expert” sessions provided opportunity to all for building their bridges.

On behalf of the board of Stress-NL and the organizing committee, we would like to thank all speakers and attendees again for a great and inspiring symposium.

Hope to see you again in 2025 for the 6th annual Stress-NL symposium!

Meeting 2019

The 2019 Stress-NL meeting was held in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. A beautiful location to discuss collaborations and future plans. This year’s meeting focussed on new projects and developments, with contributions from young talents (symposium 1) and more established (symposium 2/3) scientists, including:

Rianne de Kleine, Lynn Boschloo, Jan Kroon, Conny Quaedflieg, Marie-José van Tol, Boudewijn Lelieveldt, Benno Roozendaal, Erno Hermans, Carolina de Weerth

Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Binder (Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München) received the Ron de Kloet award and gave an award lecture: “Genes and environment – convergent pathways?”

In the coming year we will keep on pursuing our mission of combining forces between stress researchers in The Netherlands. If you have any suggestions, ideas or wish to help us in our mission, please contact us. You can join our Mailing list  to keep up to date on future events.

We hope to see you next year for the 2020 Stress-NL symposium.

Successful Kick-Off Meeting 2017

The first Stress-NL consortium meeting on November 2nd  2017 was a great success.

We look back at a fruitful and constructive meeting, and it was very clear that there is an outstanding Dutch research line on stress with a variety of angles and approaches.

The Ron de Kloet award for Stress Research

The Ron de Kloet award for Stress Research is given to an international researcher who has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of stress in adaptation, resilience and vulnerability for disease. Recipients can be either basic or clinical researchers. The prize is organized by Stress-NL. Candidates can be nominated via its executive board – decisions are made by consultation of the advisory board. The award is sponsored by Corcept Therapeutics. It is handed out annually at the Stress-NL meeting, where the awardee delivers a lecture on the topic of stress.

  • Ron de Kloet award 2024

    Prof. Dr. Sonia Lupien

  • Ron de Kloet award 2022

    Prof. Dr. Stafford Lightman

  • Ron de Kloet award 2019

    Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Binder

  • Ron de Kloet award 2018

    Prof. Dr. Carmen Sandi

Ron de Kloet award

STRESS-NL foundation

Executive board
Prof. Christiaan Vinkers
Prof. Christiaan Vinkers
Amsterdam UMC
Prof. Erno Hermans
Prof. Erno Hermans
Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen & Donders Institute
Prof. Anne-Laura van Harmelen
Prof. Anne-Laura van Harmelen
Leiden University
Dr. Conny Quaedflieg
Dr. Conny Quaedflieg
Maastricht University
Dr. Joram Mul
Dr. Joram Mul
University of Amsterdam
Dr. Mariëtte Boon
Dr. Mariëtte Boon
Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam

Advisory board

Prof. Marian Joëls
University Medical Center Utrecht
University Medical Center Groningen

Prof. Ron de Kloet
Leiden University Medical Center

Prof. Guillén Fernández
Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen & Donders Institute

Prof. Benno Roozendaal
Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen & Donders Institute

Prof. Liesbeth van Rossum
Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam

Prof. Karin Roelofs
Radboud University Nijmegen & Donders Institute

Prof. Andrea Evers
Leiden University

Prof. Bernet Elzinga
Leiden University

Prof. Paul Lucassen
University of Amsterdam

Prof. Eric Vermetten
Leiden University Medical Center

Prof. Lenneke Alink
Leiden University

Prof. Manon Hillegers
University Medical Center Utrecht

Prof. Marinus van IJzendoorn
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Prof. Onno Meijer
Leiden University Medical Center

Labs

Contact us

STRESS-NL foundation
attn. Prof. dr. Erno Hermans
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience
Radboud University Medical Center
Kapittelweg 29,
6525 EN NIJMEGEN
The Netherlands