Personal information
Hannie Comijs is psychologist and works as associate professor with the mental health care institute GGZinGeest partner of the VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam. She graduated in 1999 on her thesis: Elder mistreatment prevalence, risk indicators and consequences. Since her dissertation she participates in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a population based prospective interdisciplinary cohort study on the predictors and consequences of changes in autonomy and well-being in the aging population among persons aged 55 and older in the Netherlands. In LASA she studies the course, (biological) determinants and consequences of cognitive decline, depression and ADHD in older persons in the community. To date publications on psychosocial stress, HPA-axis, depression, anxiety and cognitive decline are her main subjects of interest. In addition, she is involved in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), a ten-year prospective study that examines the long term course of depression and anxiety in adults aged 18-65 years, in which she evaluated the screening procedure, comorbidity of psychiatric disorders and aging effects. She also supervised a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and sertraline versus a wait-list control group for anxiety disorders in older adults.
Hannie Comijs is principle investigator of the Netherlands Study on Depression in Older persons (http://nesdo.amstad.nl) . She is currently supervising 11 PhD students, all working in the field of geriatric psychiatric disorders or cognitive decline in older persons.
Other Experience and Professional Memberships
Hannie Comijs is a member of the Dutch organisation for psychologists working in the field of gerontology and geriatrics (Sectie Psychologen in de Ouderenzorg) from the Netherlands Institute of Psychologists (NIP). She is the editor of the of the Dutch journal of neuropsychology (Tijdschrift voor Neuropsychologie).