CV

You can download the CV as pfd here. Last updated on: 16 Jun 2024.

Education

• 2020-2024: PhD in Epidemiology, Erasmus medical center, expected graduation: 2025
• 2020-2022: MSc in Health Sciences, (Genetic and Molecular) Epidemiology: 9/10 (Cum Laude), Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
• 2018-2020: MSc-Res in (Cognitive) Neuroscience: 9.2/10 (Cum Laude), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
• 2015-2018: BSc in Psychology: 110/110 (Summa cum Laude), University of Bologna (Italy)
• 2010-2015: High School Diploma: 100/100 (Summa cum Laude), Liceo Classico Statale Michele Morelli (Italy)

Work experience

• May 2024 - current : Data Scientist / Research Software Engineer
  • Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
  • Tags: Software development; Big data; Longitudinal modeling; Biostatistics;
• Feb-Mar 2023 : Visiting Researcher, Department of Psychology
  • University of Bath (United Kingdom)
  • Tags: Multiple imputation; longitudinal modeling; moderation analysis.
  • Supervisor: Dr. Esther Walton []
• Jan-Jul 2020 : Visiting Researcher, Cambridge Consciousness and Cognition Lab
  • University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
  • Tags: Computational modelling; multivariate analysis; EEG data.
  • Supervisor: Dr. Tristan Bekinschtein [tb419@cam.ac.uk]
• Feb-Jul 2019 : Internship on optimizing whole-brain sequences at (7 Tesla) Ultra-High Field
  • Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
  • Brain MRI data acquisition; Brain decoding; Probabilistic Reversal Learning.
  • Supervisor: Dr. Tomas Knapen [t.h.j.knapen@vu.nl]
• Feb-Apr 2018 : Internship, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab
  • Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck (Germany)
  • Experimental design; EEG; mu suppression rhythm.
  • Supervisor: Dr. Ulrike Krämer [ulrike.kraemer@neuro.uni-luebeck.de]
• Mar-Jun 2017 : Internship, Service for Cognitive Enhancement during Development
  • Cesena (Italy)
  • Psychometric test (e.g., Raven’s Progressive Matrices, WISC-IV)
  • Supervision: Dr. Mariagrazia Benassi [mariagrazia.benassi@unibo.it]

Skills

• Bio-statistics and causal inference
• Programming and software
  • Python: pandas, scipy, sklearn, PyTorch, Dash, Plotly, matplotlib and seaborn data handling and visualization, neuroimaging and timeseries analysis, machine learning, application development
  • R: package develpment, data handling, statistical analyses, Shiny application development
  • SQL: MySQL, postgreSQL, DBever, database design
  • Other: Bash (scripting, genetic data handling), LateX (basic use), Matlab (advanced EEG analysis, data visualization)
• Presentation and teaching

Awards

• 2023 : eScience fellowhip for research software engineering Netherlands eScience Center
• 2020 : Best Master Thesis, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• 2018, 2020 : Erasmus+ for traineeship European Union, Erasmus Programme
• 2015 : Excellence prize “100 e lode” Italian Ministry of Education

Other certifications

• Machine learning
• SNOMED
• Deep learning

Publications

Attentional modulation of neural dynamics in tactile perception of complex regional pain syndrome patients

Defina, S., Niedernhuber, M., Shenker, N., Brown, C. A., & Bekinschtein, T. A. (2021). "Attentional modulation of neural dynamics in tactile perception of complex regional pain syndrome patients." Eur J Neurosci. 54(4), 5601–5619.

Mapping gene by early life stress interactions on child subcortical brain structures: A genome-wide prospective study

Bolhuis, K., Mulder, R. H., de Mol, C. L., Defina, S., Warrier, V., White, T., Tiemeier, H., Muetzel, R. L., & Cecil, C. A. M. (2022). "Mapping gene by early life stress interactions on child subcortical brain structures: A genome-wide prospective study." JCPP Advances. 2(4), e12113.

Depression, cardiometabolic disease, and their co-occurrence after childhood maltreatment: an individual participant data meta-analysis including over 200,000 participants

Souama, C., Lamers, F., Milaneschi, Y., Vinkers, C. H., Defina, S., ... , & Penninx, B. W. J. H. *on behalf of the EarlyCause Consortium. (2023). "Depression, cardiometabolic disease, and their co-occurrence after childhood maltreatment: an individual participant data meta-analysis including over 200,000 participants." BMC Medicine. 21(93).

Differential effects of pre- and postnatal early-Life stress on internalizing, adiposity, and their comorbidity

Defina, S., Woofenden, T., Baltramonaityte, V., Pariante, C. M., Lekadir, K., Jaddoe, V. W., Serdarevic, F., Tiemeier, H., Walton, E., Felix, J. F., & Cecil, C. A. M., *on behalf of the EarlyCause Consortium. (2023). "Effects of Pre-and Postnatal Early-Life Stress on Internalizing, Adiposity, and Their Comorbidity." JAACAP.

Associations of Prenatal Maternal Depressive Symptoms with Cord Blood Glucocorticoids and Child Hair Cortisol Levels in the Project Viva and the Generation R Cohorts: A Prospective Cohort Study

Cohen, N.J., Defina, S., Rifas-Shiman, S.L., Faleschini, S., Kirby, R.S., Chen, H., Wilson, R., Fryer, K., Marroun, H.E., Cecil, C.A.M., Hivert, M.F., Oken, E., Tiemeier, H., & Alman, A.C. (2023). "Associations of prenatal maternal depressive symptoms with cord blood glucocorticoids and child hair cortisol levels in the project viva and the generation R cohorts: a prospective cohort study." BMC pediatrics. 23(1), 540.

Associations of arterial thickness, stiffness and blood pressure with brain morphology in early adolescence: A prospective population-based study

Defina, S., Silva, C.C.V., Cecil, C.A.M., Tiemeier, H., Felix, J.F., Mutzel, R.L., & Jaddoe, V.W.V. (2023). "Associations of arterial thickness, stiffness and blood pressure with brain morphology in early adolescence: A prospective population-based study" Hypertension.

Arterial Health Markers in Relation to Behavior and Cognitive Outcomes at School Age

Gonçalves, R., Gaillard, R., Cecil, C.A.M., Defina, S., Steegers E.A.P. & Jaddoe, V.W.V. (2024). "Arterial Health Markers in Relation to Behavior and Cognitive Outcomes at School Age" Journal of the American Heart Association.

The role of lifestyle factors in the association between early-life stress and adolescent psycho-physical health: Moderation analysis in two European birth cohorts

Defina, S., Woofenden, T., Baltramonaityte, V., Tiemeier, H., Fairchild, G., Felix, J. F., Cecil, C.A.M., & Walton, E. (2024). "The role of lifestyle factors in the association between early-life stress and adolescent psycho-physical health: Moderation analysis in two European birth cohorts" Preventive Medicine.

Prenatal stress, epigenetically-assessed glucocorticoid exposure at birth, and child psychiatric symptoms: A prospective, multi-cohort study

Creasey, N., Schuurmans, I., Tsotsi, S., Defina, S., Baltramonaityte, V., Felix, J.F., Neumann, A., Page, C.M., Tollenaar, M., Bekkhus, M., Walton, E., & Cecil, C. (2024). "Prenatal stress, epigenetically-assessed glucocorticoid exposure at birth, and child psychiatric symptoms: A prospective, multi-cohort study" Psychoneuroendocrinology. 107388.

Neuroimaging analysis across diverse ancestries links pleiotropic genetic risk for internalizing disorders to brain development in early adolescence

Early-life stress exposure and intracortical myelination in childhood: a population-based neuroimaging study

Defina, S., Manzoni, D., Tiemeier, H., Brouwer, R.M., Cecil, C.A.M., & Muetzel R.L. (in press)

Longitudinal co-development of depressive symptoms and cardio-metabolic risk factors from childhood to young adulthood

Defina, S., Cecil, C.A.M., Felix, J.F., Walton, E., & Tiemeier, H. (in press)

Early-life stress exposure and heart morphology in childhood: a prospective population-based study

Defina, S., Kamphuis, A., Gaillard, R., & Felix, J. F. (in press)

Conference presentations and posters

PyData (Amsterdam, 2023), OHBM (Montreal, 2023), ESCAP (Copenhagen, 2023), Open science club (Rotterdam, 2022), EarlyCause consortium meeting (2020,2021,2022,2023), FENS (Berlin, 2020), European Society for Neuropsychology (Maastricht, 2018)