PROF. BARBARA FRANKE

Barbara Franke is a Professor of Molecular Psychiatry at the Radboud University Medical Center and a Principal Investigator at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

After finishing her studies in Biology in Giessen (Germany) and Utrecht (The Netherlands), she obtained her PhD in molecular signal transduction from Utrecht University in 1999. For postdoctoral studies, she subsequently moved to Nijmegen, where she was appointed at the departments of Human Genetics and Psychiatry.

In 2012, she became a full professor. As a molecular biologist and geneticist, her research is focused on understanding the genetic contribution to (neurodevelopmental) psychiatric disorders. In addition to gene-identification approaches involving common and rare genetic variation, she uses bioinformatics, neuroimaging genetics, and fruit fly models to map the biological pathways leading from gene to disease.

It is her goal to make genetic information useful for improving the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Barbara Franke leads and has lead several EU-funded consortium projects investigating the etiology of ADHD and related psychiatric disorders, including the EU FP7-funded Aggressotype project. the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network MiND, and the Horizon 2020 PRIME project. In addition, she leads/has lead work packages in several additional EU-funded projects, the TACTICS, IMAGEMEND, CoCA, and Eat2beNICE projects.

Prof. Franke is a member of Academia Europaea, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities. She holds an honorary Adjunct Professorship at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and an honorary Skou Professorship at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark.

Jan Buitelaar is an emeritus professor of psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry at the Radboud University Medical Centre, and at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He has a strong clinical and research interest in neuropsychiatric disorders as ADHD, autism, and impulsivity and aggression related disorders over the lifespan, and is involved in pharmacological, cognitive, clinical, genetic, and neuroimaging studies in these disorders. His current active research is focused on translational studies aiming to identify new molecular targets for ADHD and autism through matching preclinical models to human imaging genetics studies. His research has been supported by numerous grants from the European Union, NIH, and from the Dutch Medical Research Council. He has published more than 1100 peer-reviewed scientific papers with more than 50,000 citations and is among the top 1% of most often cited researchers worldwide.

He has been awarded several honours, such as the research price of the Dutch Society of Psychiatry in 2011, the international travelling speaker fellowship 2011/2012 of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, the Merz Guest Professorship at Goethe University in Frankfurt in 2014, the Oeuvre Award of European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ESCAP in 2019, the Lifetime Achievement Award of European Network for Hyperkinetic Disorder Eunethydis in 2022, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Society for Autism Research in 2023.  He is an elected member of the Academia Europaea, and vice-president of the ADHD World Federation. He has been knighted in the order of the Dutch Lion.

PROF. DR. J.J. SANDRA KOOIJ

Sandra Kooij started as a psychiatrist in 1995 with the development of diagnostic assessment, treatment and research in the field of adult ADHD in the Netherlands. In 2006 she received her PhD on a thesis entitled ‘ADHD in adults. Clinical studies on Assessment and Treatment’ at Radboud University Nijmegen (promoter prof. dr. J.K. Buitelaar). In 2020 she was appointed professor on Adult ADHD at Amsterdam University Medical Center. She has been involved for more than 30 years in ADHD research, patientcare, development of the Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in adults (DIVA-5) in more than 30 languages, development of new trainings for professionals, informing the public, coordinating (inter)national networks on ADHD in the Netherlands and in Europe, initiating the Head Heart Hormones (H3) network in the Netherlands for better integrated healthcare for women, publishing books (in English: Adult ADHD, Diagnostic Assessment and Treatment; Mastering ADHD for Women (published in Oct. 2026), educational (English) videos on ADHD, scientific and popular articles, and websites, such as: www.divafoundation.eu; www.adhdpowerbank.com; www.eunetworkadultadhd.com; Homepage – H3 Network.

Her main research interests are ADHD, sleep and health: Sleep disturbances in ADHD and the impact on mood, weight and health; The impact of hormonal transitions on mood and ADHD severity in women; ADHD in people 55+.

(Inter)national tasks and positions

• 2020 – 2025       Professor Adult ADHD at Amsterdam University Medical Center/VUMc, Amsterdam, Emeritus
• 2002 – current  Initiator and Head of Expertise Center ADHD in adults and elderly, at PsyQ (www.psyq.nl). Program ADHD in adults and elderly in the Hague, treats annually around 1000 ADHD patients with comorbidity, by a specialised multidisciplinary team. The expertise center is an (inter)national research and education institute that develops, distributes and implements new knowledge about ADHD in adults in mental health care in the Netherlands and abroad. The knowledge is distributed by scientific and popular publications, education programs, websites and videos (www.psyq.nl). In 2008, 2013, 2018, 2023 and 2026, Program and Expertise Center received the TOP Mental Health (TOPGGz) acknowledgement, for excellent patientcare, education and research (www.topggz.nl).

.        2010 – 2015 Chair of the Guideline committee on Adult ADHD of the Dutch organisation of Psychiatry. The guideline was published sept 2015.

• 2003 – current Initiator and president of the ‘European Network Adult ADHD’, in which adult ADHD specialists from 28 countries take part www.eunetworkadultadhd.com.
• 2009 – current Founder and president of the international DIVA Foundationthat distributes at low cost online translations of the Dutch Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in adults (DIVA-5) that has been translated > 30 languages (www.divacenter.eu). Expected in Q4 of 2026: new edition of DIVA-5, the DIVA-5-R(evised) adapted with more female specific examples to the DSM-5 criteria, with input of women with ADHD and experts.

.       2023 – current Founder of the Head Heart Hormones (H3) network together with Gynaecologist Dorenda van Dijken and Cardiologist Janneke Wittekoek, to improve multidisciplinary healthcare for women with ADHD and other psychiatric conditions in the Netherlands: Homepage – H3 Network.

.       2024 – Initiator together with Dr. Dora Wynchank of the ADHD Powerbank, an online educational video platform on ADHD (English and French) www.adhdpowerbank.com.

• 2008 – current Member of APSARD, the American Psychiatric Society on ADHD and Related Disorders
• 2010 – current Member of the Scientific Program committee of the World ADHD Congress
• 2017 – current Advisory Board of ADHD Europe
• 2017 – current Member of Eunethydis, European research network on ADHD

Samuele Cortese is currently NIHR Research Professor, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Southampton, Honorary Consultant for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, UK and full professor of child neuropsychiatry at the university of Bari, Italy. Prof. Cortese’s main research interests are around neurodevelopmental disorders. He has published more than 400 peer-review papers. He has secured funding as main/co-applicant for more than £ 13 M. In 2022, he was included in the top 1%  scientists in the field of psychiatry/psychology (Web of Science). Since 2022, he ranked  #1 worldwide in terms of expertise on ADHD (Expertscape).

DR. DORA WYNCHANK

Dora Wynchank works as a psychiatrist at the Intensive Specialist Programme for ADHD, at PsyQ, The Hague. She is also a researcher at the Expertise Centre, ADHD, which is attached to the outpatient clinic. Originally from South Africa, in August 2014 she relocated with her family to The Netherlands, where she completed a PhD on adult ADHD and biological rhythms, at the Free University of Amsterdam. She has researched, published widely and presented her research internationally. Her interests include ADHD and sleep disorders, women’s experience of ADHD and the influence of reproductive hormonal fluctuations on ADHD. She is also the editor of the DIVA Foundation, which provides a diagnostic interview for the diagnosis of ADHD, in 30 languages. She works closely with organisations representing people living with ADHD, providing training in Dutch, English and French.

DR. ANTONI RAMOS-QUIROGA

• Doctor of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology
• University of Barcelona (UAB), Master in Systemic Family Therapy from the UAB.
• Specialist in Psychiatry, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the UAB, holder accredited by the National Agency for Evaluation and Prospective (ANECA) and the Agència per a Qualitat del Sistema Universitari de Catalunya (AQU).
• Responsible for the research line of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in the Adult (ADHD) of the group of psychiatry and mental health of the Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR) of Barcelona

DR. KATE CARR FANNING

Dr. Kate Carr Fanning

Kate completed her PhD in psychology and education at Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, where she specialised in the inclusion of leaners with ADHD in mainstream education.

She spent 10 years developing and leading programmes is universities in England focused on educational psychology, teacher education, and special and inclusive education. She continues to be an Honorary Academic at the University of Bristol working with PhD students and conducting research. She recently returned to Ireland and joined the School of Education in University College Dublin (UCD), where she is the Director of Inclusive Education and Programme Director for the Graduate Diploma in SEN and the Masters in Inclusive Education.

Kate’s research interests focus on educational inclusion and social, emotional, and/or mental health difficulties in education, with a particular interest in ADHD. Her research had included the design and evaluation of school-based programs of inclusion, learner voice / participatory research and practice, and issues of identity, lay peoples understanding of behaviour and mental health, and belonging in school.

Kate serves on the ADHD Europe Professional Advisory board.