Curriculum Vitae
Personal details
Name: Arjen van Ooyen (Adriaan van Ooijen).
Nationality: Dutch.
E-mail: arjenX.vanX.ooyenX@gmail.com (remove Xs to get correct address).
Website: http://anvooyen.home.xs4all.nl/
University education and PhD
Master of Science in Biology, with major subjects Theoretical Biology / Bioinformatics and Medical and Physiological Physics. August 1989, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
PhD in Theoretical Neurobiology. Title of thesis: Activity-Dependent Neurite Outgrowth: Implications for Network Development. November 1995, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Scientific career
| Assistant for cluster analysis / bioinformatics projects, Theoretical Biology / Bioinformatics Group, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. |
| Alternative Military Service, Netherlands Institute
for Brain Research, Amsterdam. Title of project: Neural network studies: slow waves and K-complexes. |
| PhD position, Netherlands Institute
for Brain Research, Amsterdam. Title of project: Activity-dependent neurite outgrowth: implications for network development. |
| Fellowship European Commission,
Centre of Cognitive Science, University of Edinburgh, UK. Title of project: Interactions between neurotrophic factors and neuronal activity in brain development. |
| Staff member of the University of Edinburgh
and Fellowship Wellcome Trust, Centre of Cognitive Science, University of Edinburgh, UK. Title of project: Analysis of competition amongst neurons for neurotrophins. |
| Postdoctoral Fellow, Netherlands Institute for
Brain Research, Amsterdam. Title of project: Activity-dependent mechanisms of neuronal morphogenesis and network formation. |
| Assistant Professor, Head of Neuroinformatics Group, Department of Experimental Neurophysiology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. |
| Associate Professor, Head of Neuroinformatics Group, Department of Experimental Neurophysiology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. |
| Associate Professor, affiliated with VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. |
| Independent Scientist and self-employed Editor/Proofreader, affiliated with a proofreading company. |
Grants
See my grants page.
Scientific interests
Studying the development of the nervous system by means of computational models. My main research lines are neurite outgrowth and the formation of synaptic connectivity. My central hypothesis is that the need of neurons to maintain their average electrical activity at a particular level (homeostatic regulation) guides the formation of neuronal networks and drives the compensatory structural changes following loss of input caused by lesions, stroke, and neurodegeneration. Other research lines include the impact of neuronal morphology and synaptic connectivity on activity dynamics. Further information can be found on my home page.
Publications
See my publications page. For a list of publications ordered by subject, go to my home page. The full text of most papers is available online in PDF format. Also see my profiles at Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu.
Teaching
Supervising student projects and teaching my master's course Neuroinformatics. In 2010/2011, I attented the University Teaching course, which I completed very successfully. The video recordings that were made of my teaching are used in University Teaching courses as an example of good teaching practice.
Editorial boards