Nicolas Leenaerts
@nicolasleenaerts.bsky.social
Psychiatrist/PhD/Psychotherapist (CBT) in training - BAEF Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University | Using machine learning to improve psychiatric care | EMA, fMRI, PET
https://nicolasleenaerts.github.io/
https://nicolasleenaerts.github.io/
Wow, coming from a country where there is a ban on making ads for prescription meds, this just shocked me. Serena Williams, a huge celebrity, making an ad for a weight loss product, at a time when so many people are insecure about their weight.
Honestly, that just makes me sad.
Honestly, that just makes me sad.
October 17, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Wow, coming from a country where there is a ban on making ads for prescription meds, this just shocked me. Serena Williams, a huge celebrity, making an ad for a weight loss product, at a time when so many people are insecure about their weight.
Honestly, that just makes me sad.
Honestly, that just makes me sad.
After years of careful study, I am proud to say that my research finds that Conchiglie are the best type of #pasta. The way they hold the sauce, Mamma Mia 🤌
I dare other researchers to contradict my findings, but let's be honest....
I dare other researchers to contradict my findings, but let's be honest....
October 16, 2025 at 10:40 PM
After years of careful study, I am proud to say that my research finds that Conchiglie are the best type of #pasta. The way they hold the sauce, Mamma Mia 🤌
I dare other researchers to contradict my findings, but let's be honest....
I dare other researchers to contradict my findings, but let's be honest....
“You’ll never get the award,” said my imposter syndrome. Well, look at me now!
Many thanks to the Royal Academy of Medicine for awarding the Prof. Dr. Bernard Sabbe Award in Clinical Psychiatry to my PhD thesis.
Read my thesis here: doi.org/10.13140/RG....
Many thanks to the Royal Academy of Medicine for awarding the Prof. Dr. Bernard Sabbe Award in Clinical Psychiatry to my PhD thesis.
Read my thesis here: doi.org/10.13140/RG....
October 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
“You’ll never get the award,” said my imposter syndrome. Well, look at me now!
Many thanks to the Royal Academy of Medicine for awarding the Prof. Dr. Bernard Sabbe Award in Clinical Psychiatry to my PhD thesis.
Read my thesis here: doi.org/10.13140/RG....
Many thanks to the Royal Academy of Medicine for awarding the Prof. Dr. Bernard Sabbe Award in Clinical Psychiatry to my PhD thesis.
Read my thesis here: doi.org/10.13140/RG....
Just spent way too long coding an R function that makes violin plots of SHAP values, where the violins are color-graded based on the original feature’s value at each SHAP value. My hate for the standard bee plots drove me to this ...
Reach out to get the code now or wait until the publication ;)
Reach out to get the code now or wait until the publication ;)
August 14, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Just spent way too long coding an R function that makes violin plots of SHAP values, where the violins are color-graded based on the original feature’s value at each SHAP value. My hate for the standard bee plots drove me to this ...
Reach out to get the code now or wait until the publication ;)
Reach out to get the code now or wait until the publication ;)
So we meet again.
Loved to eat the orange chicken and the honey-walnut shrimp again.
Loved to eat the orange chicken and the honey-walnut shrimp again.
August 2, 2025 at 10:31 PM
So we meet again.
Loved to eat the orange chicken and the honey-walnut shrimp again.
Loved to eat the orange chicken and the honey-walnut shrimp again.
Never thought I'd say these words, but it's my first day at Harvard! Looking forward to delve into reinforcement learning for JITAIs.
August 1, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Never thought I'd say these words, but it's my first day at Harvard! Looking forward to delve into reinforcement learning for JITAIs.
Today is the day that I can finally call myself a psychiatrist! After 14 years, my residency has come to an end, and what a journey it was. I feel so grateful for all the people who have supported me!
July 31, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Today is the day that I can finally call myself a psychiatrist! After 14 years, my residency has come to an end, and what a journey it was. I feel so grateful for all the people who have supported me!
Compared to controls, patients with bulimia nervosa displayed a higher promiscuity of all brain subnetworks combined, and regionally for the dorsal attention network, with no change in flexibility.
July 8, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Compared to controls, patients with bulimia nervosa displayed a higher promiscuity of all brain subnetworks combined, and regionally for the dorsal attention network, with no change in flexibility.
As a researcher, I just had to go see the School of Athens in the Vatican Museum. Loved seeing it!
July 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
As a researcher, I just had to go see the School of Athens in the Vatican Museum. Loved seeing it!
Combining clinical work and research is challenging, which is why I’m especially grateful to receive the EFPT Porto Research Award for the best research by a European psychiatry resident this past year!
Read about my work on person-specific and pooled prediction models here: shorturl.at/y5HNK
Read about my work on person-specific and pooled prediction models here: shorturl.at/y5HNK
June 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Combining clinical work and research is challenging, which is why I’m especially grateful to receive the EFPT Porto Research Award for the best research by a European psychiatry resident this past year!
Read about my work on person-specific and pooled prediction models here: shorturl.at/y5HNK
Read about my work on person-specific and pooled prediction models here: shorturl.at/y5HNK
Meeting up with the other #BAEF fellows was great. I loved hearing about everybody's background and where they were going to work in the US. I am looking forward to going to Boston next month!
June 6, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Meeting up with the other #BAEF fellows was great. I loved hearing about everybody's background and where they were going to work in the US. I am looking forward to going to Boston next month!
Here at #SAA2025! Come listen to my talk on sets of contextual factors for alcohol use in paper session #4 at 2.15pm. Looking forward to present this work by me and @aaronjfisher.bsky.social.
May 26, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Here at #SAA2025! Come listen to my talk on sets of contextual factors for alcohol use in paper session #4 at 2.15pm. Looking forward to present this work by me and @aaronjfisher.bsky.social.
Posting this to shine a light on psychiatry in Flanders. As a member of VVAP (the Flemish Association of Psychiatry Residents), I had the chance to help organize our annual Residents' Day—this year focused on addiction. We had inspiring talks from Paul Van Deun and David Puder, and had lots of fun!
April 30, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Posting this to shine a light on psychiatry in Flanders. As a member of VVAP (the Flemish Association of Psychiatry Residents), I had the chance to help organize our annual Residents' Day—this year focused on addiction. We had inspiring talks from Paul Van Deun and David Puder, and had lots of fun!
Exciting news! I’m honored to receive a grant from the BAEF to support my research stay in Susan Murphy’s lab at Harvard University. I’ll be collaborating with Stephanie Goldstein and Lara Coughlin to develop algorithms for JITAIs, aimed at reducing cravings in overweight/obesity and cannabis use!
February 10, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Exciting news! I’m honored to receive a grant from the BAEF to support my research stay in Susan Murphy’s lab at Harvard University. I’ll be collaborating with Stephanie Goldstein and Lara Coughlin to develop algorithms for JITAIs, aimed at reducing cravings in overweight/obesity and cannabis use!
Spawned Satan with my last analysis. Send help... 😰
January 4, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Spawned Satan with my last analysis. Send help... 😰
Me too Rstudio, me too...
January 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Me too Rstudio, me too...
(Being on call)³
January 3, 2025 at 7:53 AM
(Being on call)³
My Christmas gift is helping me with my analyses—stay tuned for her soon-to-be-released preprint!
December 28, 2024 at 9:26 AM
My Christmas gift is helping me with my analyses—stay tuned for her soon-to-be-released preprint!
Made a video of a Fallypride scan for a presentation, but couldn't include it due to the time limit, so posting it here!
Want to read more on the impact of stress on dopamine signaling and its role in negative urgency? Read the paper! nicolasleenaerts.github.io/publication/...
Want to read more on the impact of stress on dopamine signaling and its role in negative urgency? Read the paper! nicolasleenaerts.github.io/publication/...
December 7, 2024 at 10:06 AM
Made a video of a Fallypride scan for a presentation, but couldn't include it due to the time limit, so posting it here!
Want to read more on the impact of stress on dopamine signaling and its role in negative urgency? Read the paper! nicolasleenaerts.github.io/publication/...
Want to read more on the impact of stress on dopamine signaling and its role in negative urgency? Read the paper! nicolasleenaerts.github.io/publication/...
First Udon shop in town 😍
November 29, 2024 at 6:02 PM
First Udon shop in town 😍
Making some plots with gganimate and really loving the effect! Be sure to take a look yourself!
November 28, 2024 at 8:01 PM
Making some plots with gganimate and really loving the effect! Be sure to take a look yourself!
In Flander's Fields...
October 20, 2024 at 2:04 PM
In Flander's Fields...
Here with the gang at EDRS. Come look at our posters, and talk to me, Elske, Emma, and Robin!
September 26, 2024 at 5:24 PM
Here with the gang at EDRS. Come look at our posters, and talk to me, Elske, Emma, and Robin!
Had a great time presenting my NLMLapp to my colleagues in Research Group Psychiatry @KU_Leuven.
Want to build pooled and person-specific models with an easy to use app? Look here:
github.com/nicolasleena...
Want to build pooled and person-specific models with an easy to use app? Look here:
github.com/nicolasleena...
September 23, 2024 at 6:07 PM
Had a great time presenting my NLMLapp to my colleagues in Research Group Psychiatry @KU_Leuven.
Want to build pooled and person-specific models with an easy to use app? Look here:
github.com/nicolasleena...
Want to build pooled and person-specific models with an easy to use app? Look here:
github.com/nicolasleena...