Doctoral Candidates, Principal Investigators & Coordinators
Robert Schoevers
Coordinator of the INTEGRATE program
Dr. Robert Schoevers is professor of Psychiatry and Head of the University Center Psychiatry at the University Medical Center Groningen. His research focuses on developing more effective treatments for patients with chronic, hard to treat mental disorders, based on a better understanding of underlying disease mechanisms.
Within INTEGRATE, he contributes expertise in clinical psychiatry, trial design and precision psychiatry. The interdisciplinary Psychedelic Treatments and Mechanisms research group at UMCG seeks to better understand the working mechanisms of psychedelic treatments, using a range of research methods relevant representing a broad bio-psycho-social theoretical framework. Throughout his career he has trained and tutored young clinicians and researchers from various disciplines and collaborated with patients and representatives in research and communication.
Joost Breeksema
Co-coordinator
Joost Breeksema is an interdisciplinary researcher whose work bridges the boundaries of psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, and public health. At the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), he uses qualitative methods to investigate subjective experiences and non‑pharmacological variables in psychedelic therapy. Within INTEGRATE, he coordinates training, communication & dissemination, and the consortium itself.
As executive director of the OPEN Foundation, he advances interdisciplinary research through conferences like ICPR; spearheads therapeutic formation through a comprehensive therapist training program called ADEPT; and drives policy work uniting patients, clinicians, researchers, and policy makers. A connector at heart, he is convinced that therapeutic use of psychedelics can only be advanced through critical reflection, rigorous research, interdisciplinarity and collaboration. Underlying all his work is a deep-seated belief in the scientifically grounded, responsible, inclusive, ethical and plurality of psychedelic use in healthcare and society. He very reluctantly writes about himself in the third person.
