PI & Lab Director
Dr. Eliana Vassena is the Principal Investigator and head of the MED Lab. Eliana is a neuroscientist with a background in clinical psychology and neuropsychology. After graduating at the University of Milan Bicocca (Italy), she obtained her PhD at Ghent University (Belgium), and finally moved to the Netherlands to join the Donders Institute with a Marie Curie Fellowship. In 2022 she was awarded the Bertelson award for early career contributions and in 2023 she received the SSH-Xs grant from the Dutch NWO. Currently Eliana also chairs the Radboud Young Academy. In November 2025, she became an associate professor at the Behavioural Science Institute and also a guest investigator and the Donders Institute.