About the team

The Systems Neurology research group is led by associate professor and neurologist Rick Helmich. The group consists of a large variety of people, ranging from postdocs, PhD-candidates, MSc-students, and BSc-students. With backgrounds ranging from medicine, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and molecular life sciences, we all aim to unravel the neural mechanisms that give rise to neurological symptoms.

Filip Grill

I am originally from the south of Sweden but moved to the north to pursue a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at Umeå center for Functional Brain Imaging under the supervision of Anna Rieckmann and Lars Nyberg. In my PhD I investigated how dopamine release in the human striatum is related to reinforcement learning using hybrid PET/MR brain imaging and computational modelling of behavior.

In July 2022, I joined the Donders Institute as a joint postdoc in the labs of Rick Helmich and Roshan Cools to study how Parkinson’s patients estimate how controllable their environment is. The project is part of a larger consortium involving a team of international researchers dedicated to investigate the pathological progression of Parkinson’s disease.

Martin Johansson

Martin joined the Systems Neurology lab for his PhD project in 2018 and transitioned to a post-doctoral research position in 2023.

My research focuses on brain mechanisms that underlie symptom progression in Parkinson’s disease, which I investigate through the longitudinal analysis of (f)MRI and clinical data. I am particularly interested in understanding how pathological and compensatory alterations in the brain can shape the motor phenotype and progression of individual patients. Currently, I am testing the hypothesis that motor progression depends on the decline of cortical mechanisms that are recruited to compensate for pathological dysfunction in the basal ganglia.

Jorryt Tichelaar

I received my master degree in molecular life science at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. In my masters, I worked with Bernhard Englitz and applied electrophysiology and optogenetics to investigate neural activity during auditory sensory substitution. I thoroughly enjoyed the computational analysis and performed a second internship in the group of Tobias Elze at Harvard Medical School. Here I applied machine learning to model the temporal evolution of functional vision loss in glaucoma patients.

In my PhD, I investigate impulse control disorders (ICD) in Parkinson’s disease. For example, I assess how the reward circuitry is different in patients with ICD and whether we can contribute these differences to inflammation. Eventually, I hope to predict which patients are susceptible to develop ICD.

Kevin van den Berg

Kevin van den Berg obtained his medical degree at the Radboud university medical centre and subsequently started with a PhD-trajectory investigating Parkinson’s tremor.

Even before starting medical school in 2015, I was fascinated by neurology and neuroimaging. During the summer of 2018, I went to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA for a research internship. There, I investigated the role of the cerebellum in Parkinson’s tremor. Having obtained my medical degree in February 2022 at the Radboud university medical centre, I wanted to delve deeper into the underlying mechanisms of Parkinson’s tremor. As of March 2022, I started a PhD-trajectory investigating the role of the cerebellum in Parkinson’s tremor and the cerebral mechanisms behind Parkinson’s tremor progression. My ultimate goal is to become a neurologist specialized in movement disorders. In my free time, I try to obtain a good dose of exercise and (especially) music to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Nienke Timmermans

After I obtained my master degree in Technical Medicine in 2023, I started as a PhD-candidate at the at the Radboud University Medical Center in collaboration with the Donders institute. During my PhD, I will focus on quantifying Parkinson’s tremor in relation to stress. For this, I will mainly use the large amount of sensor data (accelerometry and photoplethysmography) that was collected with a smartwatch during daily-living as part of the Personalized Parkinson Project. By analysing these signals, I hope that we can obtain new insights into the occurrence of tremor in daily life and the influence of stress, ultimately leading to improved treatment for Parkinson’s tremor. In my free time I enjoy running, cycling and reading, which helps me to reduce my own stress levels.

Thomas Oosterhof

After obtaining my medical degree, I gained clinical experience in Pulmonary Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Neurology. This diverse background enables me to explore the interconnections between bodily and neurological processes, with a particular focus on the brain. In my PhD research, I am investigating whether exercise can delay or even prevent the onset of Parkinson’s disease, as part of the world’s first lifestyle prevention trial in Parkinson’s disease called the Slow-SPEED study. In this study, we aim to encourage participants to exercise with a motivational smartphone app while collecting both symptomatic and biological markers, including MRI imaging. With these MRI scans, we aim to reveal the effects of exercise on brain integrity and function, while also gaining deeper insights into the underlying disease progression of prodromal Parkinson’s disease.

Carlos Sandoval Puentes

I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering in Mexico, and then moved to Nijmegen to pursue a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience, with a specialization in Natural Computing and Neurotechnology. Currently, as a Research Assistant in the Systems Neurology Lab, I focus on applying data analysis techniques to better understand the progression of Parkinson’s Disease, with a particular emphasis on tremor.

I research the dopamine responsiveness profile in patients with resting tremor by analyzing fMRI data and clinical scores. I employ methods such as Dynamic Causal Modeling and classification algorithms to predict individual patients’ responsiveness profiles. Ultimately, I aim to contribute to improving tremor treatment through more personalized approaches.

Kenan Steidel

During medical school and general neurology training, I developed a fascination with neurodegenerative diseases and movement disorders. Training at the University Hospital of Marburg under David Pedrosa and Lars Timmermann allowed me to gain valuable experience in the specialized care of patients with movement disorders, both with and without deep brain stimulation (DBS). These experiences, combined with observing the clinical consequences of neurodegeneration and patients’ coping mechanisms, fueled my interest in research.
My primary research interest is to combine functional imaging modalities, such as PET and fMRI, to investigate the neuronal mechanisms underlying motor and non-motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the therapeutic effects of DBS. After completing the neurological portion of my residency in July 2024, I am excited to continue advancing my expertise in neuroimaging under Rick’s supervision.