Dr. Mirjam Bloemendaal

Mirjam Bloemendaal is trained as a neuropsychologist and obtained a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour.

During her PhD she set up intervention studies on the role of dopamine in cognitive functions, specifically in healthy aging. In this period she got intrigued by the influence of nutrition and gut microbiota on brain neurochemistry and associated cognitive functioning.

Extending her research focus beyond the brain, she moved to a medical food company relating nutritional interventions to clinical outcomes (biomarkers, neuroimaging measures and diagnostic assessments).

With a drive for mechanistic research, in the international consortium (Eat2beNICE) she is currently involved in various intervention studies tapping into the gut-immune-brain axis. This allows her to incorporate various biological measures (immune markers, gut microbial composition, dietary habits) to explain cognitive functioning. ​