SAFER Lab ​

In the SAFER Lab we conduct Social, Affective, Forensic and Electrophysiological Research to promote a safer society. In our research we study fundamental electrophysiological mechanisms in relation to forensic psychological themes, such as violence and psychopathic personality. Moreover we aim to translate these neurobiological insights into different fields of practice, such as law, forensic mental healthcare and policy. ​


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Josanne van Dongen, PhD.
Lab director

Josanne van Dongen is currently appointed as associate professor of forensic psychology at the Erasmus University Rotterdam where she is the program lead for the forensic education in the master specialization of Forensic and Legal Psychology. After her initial research on the link between psychosis and violence, she started to study antisocial and psychopathic personality in relation to aggression. Her focus is on neurobiological correlates of psychopathy, for example electrophysiology and brain modulation techniques to investigate the role of empathy in relation to callous and unemotional traits. Insights from this research are used to develop new interventions that may reduce violence risk.

Carmen Sergiou, MSc. 
PhD candidate 

​Carmen studied Clinical Forensic Psychology at the University of Amsterdam and worked on different projects within forensic psychiatry. Currently she is working on a her PhD project involving electrophysiological correlates of substance related aggressive behavior and tDCS neuromodulation as an intervention to reduce aggression in forensic patients. 
She currently is in Boston to work on a project involving tDCS effects on brain networks in forensic patients in collaboration with Dr. Emiliano Santarnecchi, Harvard Medical School.

Mila Ivanova, MSc. 
PhD candidate

Mila studied medicine at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam and Clinical Psychology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam before she started her PhD project in 2019. Her research focuses on 'neuroprediction', the use of neuroscientific correlates in violence risk prediction. ​

Mohd Ali Md-Salim, MSc.
In memoriam
PhD candidate 

Ali was a PhD candidate working on a project involving electrophysiological correlated of frustration based aggression. He started the final year of his PhD project when he died during the MH17 crash on July 17th, 2014. 

Graduate students / RA's

Vanesa Ajazi Erasmus+ student
Vanesa is a visiting student under supervision of Prof.dr. Giuseppe Sartori, from the University of Padova. In the SAFER Lab she is RA within the EEG project on dark tetrad traits and response inhibition in paraphilia. 
Luca Lasogga, Amber Leeflang, Marielle Lassche and Magda Axioti
These students are working on the EEG project on dark tetrad traits and response inhibition in paraphilia. 
Celine Muller, Lena Rauw and Cairah ter Beek
These students are working on the study on different pathways to aggression in cannabis misuse.
Helena Scharnowski
Helena is working on the project on COVID-19 related conspiracy ideations and aggression.  
Julia Pfahl and Lea Pfaffender
These two student are both doing a combined clinical and research internship in collaboration with prof.dr. Birgit Völlm at the Forensic Psychiatric Clinic, Rostock, Germany. 
Melissa Zandstra
Melissa is working on a project involving DTI in the MTwiNs study of the MIND Lab, in collaboration with dr. Luke Hyde and dr. Scott Tillem, University of Michigan
Sascha Langley
Sascha is working on a project involving neuropsychological correlates of treatment outcomes for forensic patients, in collaboration with prof.dr. Birgit Völlm, University of Rostock, Germany 

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Affiliated members
Forensic and Legal Psychology Group

    Eric Rassin, PhD.
    Full Professor of Legal Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam
​    Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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      Reshmi Marhe, PhD.
      Assistant Professor of Forensic Psychology
      Erasmus University Rotterdam,
​      Rotterdam, the Netherlands 

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    Irena Boskovic
    Assistant Professor of Forensic Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam
    Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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    Melissa de Roos, PhD.
    Assistant Professor of Forensic Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam
​    Rotterdam, the Netherlands 

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    Gary Macpherson, DClin Psychol.
    Guest Lecturer Forensic and Legal Psychology
    Erasmus University Rotterdam
​    Rotterdam, the Netherlands 
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Lab collaborators

          Inti Brazil, PhD.
          SAMBA Group
          Radboud University Nijmegen
​          Nijmegen, the Netherlands

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          Emiliano Santarnecchi, PhD. 
          Network Control Laboratory 
​          Harvard Medical School 
          Boston, United States 

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          Ingmar Franken, PhD.
          Institute for Addiction Science
          Erasmus University Rotterdam
​          Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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