Top researcher from Amsterdam receives the Queen's Professorship
Anja Huizink, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the Dutch Vrije Universiteit, has been appointed to the newly established Queen Silvia Professorship in Global Child and Adolescent Health, with a focus on mental health. The interdisciplinary professorship, which will be based at the Department of Psychology, entails broad collaboration across large parts of the university.
The professorship has a unique interdisciplinary focus on the health of children and young people, where Anja Huizink wants to focus on two particularly important stages in human development.
“One of these stages is the very beginning of life, during pregnancyand the early postpartum period, where I aim to connect new research to the recently established European consortium Healthy Adaptation to Pregnancy, Postpartum and Parenthood. Specifically, the goal would be to prevent the intergenerational transmission of mental health problems, through early prevention and intervention in high-risk groups,” says Anja Huizink.
The other stage Anja Huizink wants to highlight is adolescence.
“One of the things I’ll focus on is identifying sources of stress amongst youth as risk factors for the onset of mental health problems and unhealthy lifestyles. Stress can be anything from personal worries about school, social contacts and future work, to anxiety about society, political developments and climate change. In both focus areas, I aim to conduct research with well-designed, co-created, epidemiological, longitudinal, and intervention studies.”
A generous collaboration with Carl Bennet AB
The professorship is based on a generous collaboration with Carl Bennet AB, which is contributing 20 million Swedish Crowns, explains Vice-Chancellor Malin Broberg.
“This has given us a unique opportunity to further strengthen an already strong area of ours, where we now intend to lead this research nationally through more collaborations between our faculties. Once Anja has settled in, we will expand our focus on the research environment by announcing doctoral and postdoctoral positions,” says Vice-Chancellor Malin Broberg.
A major step forward for the preexisting work in developmental psychology
Kerstin Falkman, Head of the Department of Psychology, emphasizes that Anja Huizink’s research will represent a major step forward for the preexisting work in developmental psychology at the department.
“We have well-established collaborations with other parts of the university. Anja Huizink’s task will now be to build on this collaboration and create an interdisciplinary environment. Improving the mental health of children and young people is a major challenge, and we are of course extremely happy about this professorship that will help strengthen the entirety of GU’s approach to this important area.”
Kalle Anka on Christmas Eve
Anja Huizink will take up the professorship on February 1, 2026, but she is already well acquainted with Sweden.
“My mother is a Swedish speaker from Finland, so from a young age and onwards, I have frequently visited both Sweden and Finland. Also, in 2018 when I was a visiting professor at Högskolan i Skövde, I spent about seven months here, together with my family. We’ve also had a summer house here for over 10 years. We have watched Kalle Anka on Christmas Eve* for many years with the children whilst visiting Sweden and we always take our shoes off when entering someone’s home.”
* Kalle Anka is the Swedish translation of Donald Duck and it’s a Swedish tradition to watch cartoons with Donald Duck and other Disney characters on Christmas Eve.
For more information
Professor Per Cramér, phone: +46 70 858 95 19, e-mail: per.cramer@handels.gu.se
By: Eva Lundgren
- A unanimous preparatory group, chaired by Per Cramér and with representatives from the Sahlgrenska Academy, the School of Business, Economics and Law, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Education, has decided to propose Anja Huizink as the holder of Queen Silvia’s Professorship in Global Child and Adolescent Health with a focus on mental health.
- Anja Huizink, born 1969, is a professor of developmental psychopathology at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, and will take up her position in Gothenburg on the 1st of February, 2026.
- The professorship is based on a collaboration with Carl Bennet AB, which contributes SEK 20 million.
- Among other things, the professorship involves an annual international roundtable discussion on the theme of child and adolescent health, which takes place in the university’s main building and with the participation of H. M. The Queen.
- The vice-chancellor will decide on the professorship in August.