Erik de Water
He/Him
I’m gay and I’m a developmental psychologist and neuroscientist. //
I’m from the Netherlands, where I obtained my PhD from Radboud University. I’m currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. I study how early-life exposure to chemicals (e.g., metals, flame retardants) and social stressors affects children’s brain development, focusing on brain areas involved in self-control. I use a wide variety of techniques in my research, including MRI, biological samples to determine hormone and chemical concentrations, neuropsychological tasks, and questionnaires. I am a peer mentor for other postdocs at my institute, and enjoy sharing my research with the public through lectures at schools, brain fairs, and science policy and advocacy efforts. Outside of work I enjoy eating insane amounts of food from all over the world with my Peruvian boyfriend and trying to go to the gym regularly in order to still fit into my pants.