Gorgi Bekkers
| Gorgi Bekkers is a PhD candidate at the Alzheimer Centre Limburg, Maastricht University, where she started her PhD trajectory in April 2026. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology and previously worked as a psychologist in elderly care. Throughout her clinical career, she gained experience working with older adults in somatic care, rehabilitation settings, and dementia care. Her current research focuses on psychosocial innovation, digital monitoring and interventions and frontotemporal dementia. She aims to bridge the gap between research and practice and contribute to more person-centered dementia research. |
Inez Ramakers
| Dr Ramakers is a clinical researcher with a background in neuropsychology. Her research focuses on the relation between neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric and biomarker aspects of individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. In addition, she is interested in innovative aspects of the neuropsychological assessment in the early diagnostics of dementia, such as the automatization and visualization of neuropsychological test performances to improve patient communication. Dr Ramakers is involved in implementation of clinical research in the memory clinic of the MUMC and co-managing several cohort studies, such as the local BioBank Alzheimer Center Limburg study, and the neurodegenerative Pearl of the Dutch Parelsnoer Initiative. In WP2 of ENSURED, she is the co-supervisor of Gorgi Bekkers. |
Marjolein de Vugt
| Marjolein de Vugt is a Professor of Psychosocial Innovations in dementia. Trained as a neuropsychologist, she works as a clinical researcher and as a clinician in the memory clinic of the Maastricht University Medical Center+ (MUMC+). Her line of research focuses on psychosocial care needs and support in dementia with a particular focus on young onset dementia, the use of technology and eHealth to improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their care partners. She is the initiator of successful eHealth interventions like Partner in Balance, InLife, and the Braincoach. She is director of the Alzheimer Center Limburg, which integrates activities of Maastricht University and the University Hospital and accommodates more than 60 researchers and clinicians of various disciplines. She is also chair elect of the European network on research into early detection and timely intervention in dementia (INTERDEM). Prof de Vugt is the PI of the ENSURED consortium and promoter of Gorgi Bekkers. |
Sara Laureen Bartels
| Dr Sara Laureen Bartels is an assistant professor in psychosocial innovation in dementia and coordinator of the psychosocial research line at the Alzheimer Centrum Limburg, Maastricht University. Her work focuses on innovative methodologies and methods for psychosocial intervention research in dementia and chronic pain. She is also affiliated to Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and chair of INTERDEM Academy. In ENSURED, Dr Bartels leads WP 2 and daily supervisor of Gorgi Bekkers. |
Jackie Poos
| Dr Jackie Poos is Assistant Professor and neuropsychologist at the Alzheimercenter Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her research focuses on cognitive changes in neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular interest in the early detection and monitoring of rare dementias, including frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Within the ENSURED consortium, she contributes to the development and evaluation of digital tools for disease monitoring, aiming to improve the understanding of disease progression and support patient-centered care. |
Fania Dassen
| Dr. Fania Dassen works as a project manager at Alzheimer Centrum Limburg, Maastricht University. She is the daily coordinator of INTERDEM Academy, the European training network supporting capacity building, training and career development among early-and mid-career psychosocial dementia researchers. Within the ENSURED project, she serves as the link with the INTERDEM Academy network, facilitating connections with its researchers, training activities, and expertise. She also coordinates the Dutch SPREAD+ consortium and contributes to societal engagement and outreach projects in dementia research. |
Institution(s)
Maastricht University, Alzheimer Centrum Limburg https://www.alzheimercentrumlimburg.nl/ , in collaboration with ERASMUS UMC, Rotterdam