Curriculum Vitae

Personal details

-Title(s), initial(s), first name:                           Tom A.

-Surname:                                                      de Graaf

-Date of birth:                                                25/09/1983

-Place and country of birth:                            Haarlem, the Netherlands

- Work Phone:                                              +31 43 388 1461

- Work Email:                                                tom.degraaf@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Education

Secondary:                                                     VWO (Gymnasium)                                        1996-2001    Oosterhout, the Netherlands

Additional:                                                      West-Irondequoit High School                        2001-2002    Rochester, NY, USA

University Bachelor:                                        Biological Psychology    + Honors Program     2003-2006    Maastricht University, the Netherlands    Cum Laude

University Master:                                           Research Master Cognitive Neuroscience        2006-2008    Maastricht University, the Netherlands    Cum Laude

Thesis: Network Correlates of Visuospatial Processing (grade: 9.8/10)

Additional:                                                      Winter + Spring Quarters at UCSD                 2006              San Diego, CA, USA                             GPA 4.0

Work experience

• Seminar-teacher of undergraduate courses
  • ‘Critical Thinking’
  • ‘Consciousness’
  • ‘History and Principles of Psychology’
  • ‘Statistics’
  • ‘Biological Psychology’
  • ‘Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience’
• Lectures for undergraduate and graduate courses
  • ‘Sensation and Perception’        --- "Wonderful perception: visual illusions"
  • ‘Consciousness’                         --- "Research on human consciousness"
  • ‘Theoretical perspectives in Biopsychology’ --- "Theories of Consciousness"
  • 'Cognitive Neuroscience'             --- "Studying visual awareness"
  • ‘Neural Correlates of Consciousness’. --- "Cognitive neuroscience of human consciousness"
• Research Assistant to Dr. Alard Roebroeck,
  stimulus preparation (movie clips), study design, psychophysics, eyetracking: data acquisition and analysis, fMRI: data acquisition and analysis; GLM contrast, ICA and connectivity (GCM) analysis.
  Maastricht University, the Netherlands - Jan-Dec 2007
• Didactic Advisor and instructor at 'Eerste Brabantse Zeilschool de Biesbos', sailing school in Drimmelen, the Netherlands - 2001-present
• Free-lance academic translator, having translated a book and a number of book chapters and academic articles from Dutch to English in that capacity. E.G. published in 2007:

        Jansen, W., Steenbakkers, W., & Jägers, H. P. M. (2007). New Business Models for the Knowledge Economy. Hampshire: Gower.

        Jansen, W., & Jägers, H. P. M. (2007). The Virtual Organization: a Smuggler's Nest?

        Jansen, W., & van den Nieuwenhof, R. (2007). A Model for Rethinking the Current Vocabulary of Design. In M. Avital, R. J. Boland & D. L. Cooperrider (Eds.), Designing Information and Organizations with a Positive Lens: Elsevier: Macmillan.

• 2011-present: Brain Stage. Started company 'Brain Stage' that aims to translate science to the public, making science in general and neuroscience specifically accessible and interesting to laypeople. In this capacity, delivered public lecture series 'Brain Storm' - elaborated below under Public Contributions.
• 2008- present        PhD-student at Maastricht University: Brain Systems of Visual Consciousness, on awarded NWO Toptalent grant (021.002.087), NWO, the Netherlands

International activities

• 2001: EF Foundation Language and Culture Program
• 2001-2002: EF Foundation High School Exchange year, Rochester NY, USA.
• Jan-Jun 2006: Winter & Spring quarter exchange to University of California, San Diego (UCSD); 5 undergraduate courses (GPA: 4.0), 1 graduate course (A+).
• Oct 2010 - April 2011: Visiting scholar at Glasgow University, working with Dr. Gregor Thut.

Established International Collaborations

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): Dr. Po-Jang (Brown) Hsieh - philosophical/epistemological project: "On the 'Correlates' in Neural Correlates of Consciousness"
• University of Illinois: Kyle Mathewsson - literature review project: "Systems Neuroscience of Consciousness"
• University of Utrecht: Dr. Raymond van Ee, Drs. Maartje de Jong - Original Research Project: "The role of frontal cortex in bistable vision"
• University of Glasgow: Dr. Gregor Thut - Original Research Project: "alpha waves and vision"

Post-hoc reviewer for:  

• Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging (IF = 3.435)

• Brain Imaging and Behavior (IF = 1.044)

• Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (IF = 9.051)

• Cerebral Cortex (IF = 6.844)

• Cortex (IF = 7.251)

Organizational and academic activities

• 2006-2007: Research Master Educational Committee, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University.
• 2006-2008: Student Representative of the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Master..
• 2008: co-organized the 7th Endo-Neuro-Psycho Meeting as representative of Maastricht University. Activities included coordination of student conference sessions, selection of speakers and poster presenters, and chairing the student sessions.
• 2008-present: active course planning group member for the graduate courses:
  • “Neural Correlates of Consciousness”
  • “Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation”

·         2008- present: member of Funding Committee (Commissie van Bestedingen), Maastricht University. This Committee awards funding for university-related activities that promote the university's international profile, several times per year.

·         2009-2010 - member of the MARBLE (Maastricht Research Based Learning) evaluation team (stuurgroep) that contributes to a continued succesful implemention of innovative teaching methods at Maastricht University.

Media and public contributions

• National radio: Radio 1, Noorderlicht, interview, 10.00-11.00h, (20-05-2008)
• Regional television: L1, Avond van de Psychologie, interview, 19.00-23.00h, (17-12-2008)
• Brain Awareness Week 2009 – high school workshops on brain research
• Annual Public lecture: Studium Generale, Consciousness Research at Maastricht University, 20.00-22.00h, (03-11-2009 - 2010 - 2011)
• Public lecture series: 'Brain Stage'/Studium Generale, Brain Storm (november 2011-december 2011).
      Brain Storm: meet your Brain (9 november, 19.30-21.30)
      Neurons and Networks (16 november, 19.30-21.30)
      Sensation and perception (23 november, 19.30-21.30)
      Dawn of Man (30 november, 19.30-21.30)
      Brain and Consciousness (7 december, 19.30-21.30)
• Academic Yearprize 2011: final aired live web-based on October 26th 2011.
     

Research grants and prizes

• Recipient of the SWOL/UM scholarship (€1.300) for studies abroad  (2006)
•  ‘Best Speaker’ –award (€200): 1st CNCN conference in Nijmegen, the Netherlands  (2008)
• Was awarded the research grant Toptalent (€180.000), by NWO, the Netherlands  (2008). This grant was awarded to 44 students in total, across all scientific disciplines, to fund their proposed PhD projects. This grant funded the PhD proposal 'Brain Systems of Visual Consciousness'.
• Was awarded the trainee Abstract Award ($750), for the abstract submitted to Human Brain Mapping conference 2009, San Francisco, CA, USA. (2009) - "Frontal-to-Parietal Projections within a Complex Right-Hemispheric Network Underlie Visuospatial Judgment"
• Was awarded the trainee Abstract Award ($600), for the abstract submitted to Human Brain Mapping conference 2010, Barcelona, Spain (2010). - "On the Role of Frontoparietal Cortices in Bistable Vision and Voluntary Control"
• Research article "On the functional relevance of frontal cortex in bistable vision and voluntary control", published in Cerebral Cortex, 2011, was selected to the Faculty 1000 - this selection is of the top 2% publications in any given year in the fields of biology and medicine.
• Was captain of the Finalist NWO Academic Year Prize 2011 team, for the proposed project "Brein in Beeld".
• Winner of the Public Prize 2011 for the proposed academic year prize project "Brein in Beeld".

Gaps / other relevant information

2002-2003: student of economics, Maastricht University.

Peer-reviewed Publications

Original Articles

de Graaf, T. A., de Jong, M. C., Goebel, R., van Ee, R., & Sack, A. T. (2011). On the functional relevance of frontal cortex for passive and voluntarily controlled bistable vision. Cereb Cortex, 21(10), 2322-2331. (IF = 6.844)

de Graaf, T. A., Cornelsen, S., Jacobs, C., & Sack, A. T. (2011). TMS effects on subjective and objective measures of vision: stimulation intensity and pre- versus post-stimulus masking. Conscious Cogn, 20(4), 1244-1255. (IF = 2.179)

de Graaf, T. A., Goebel, R., & Sack, A. T. (2012). Feedforward and quick recurrent processes in early visual cortex revealed by TMS? Neuroimage. (IF = 5.937)

de Graaf, T. A., Herring, J., & Sack, A. T. (2011). A chronometric exploration of high-resolution 'sensitive TMS masking' effects on subjective and objective measures of vision. Exp Brain Res, 209(1), 19-27. (IF = 2.296)

de Graaf, T. A., Hsieh, P. J., & Sack, A. T. (2012). The 'correlates' in neural correlates of consciousness. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 36(1), 191-197. (IF = 9.051)

de Graaf, T. A., Jacobs, C., Roebroeck, A., & Sack, A. T. (2009). FMRI effective connectivity and TMS chronometry: complementary accounts of causality in the visuospatial judgment network. PLoS One, 4(12), e8307. (IF  = 4.411)

de Graaf, T. A., Roebroeck, A., Goebel, R., & Sack, A. T. (2010). Brain network dynamics underlying visuospatial judgment: an FMRI connectivity study. J Cogn Neurosci, 22(9), 2012-2026. (IF = 5.357)

de Graaf, T. A., & Sack, A. T. (2011). Null results in TMS: from absence of evidence to evidence of absence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 35(3), 871-877. (IF = 9.051)

Machado, S., Araujo, F., Paes, F., Velasques, B., Cunha, M., Budde, H., ..., de Graaf TA et al. (2011). EEG-based brain-computer interfaces: an overview of basic concepts and clinical applications in neurorehabilitation. Rev Neurosci, 21(6), 451-468.

average Impact Factor first-authored publications december 2011: 5.66

Conference presentations and published abstracts

De Graaf, T. A., & Roebroeck, A. (2007). Interactions in the Brain during Visual and Auditory Search Tasks on Natural Stimuli using Granger Causality and fMRI. Poster presented at the 6th Endo-Neuro-Psycho Meeting, 5-8 June, Doorwerth, the Netherlands.

De Graaf, T. A., Roebroeck, A., Sack, A. T. (2008). Functional Relevance and Effective Connectivity in the Fronto-Parietal Network: network correlates of visuospatial processing. Presented at the 1^st CNCN conference, 13-14 June, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

De Graaf, T. A., Roebroeck, A., Sack, A. T. (2008). Network Correlates of Visuospatial Processing: functional relevance and directed influence in a visuospatial network. Presented at the 7^th Endo-Neuro-Psycho Meeting, 4-6 June, Doorwerth, the Netherlands

De Graaf, T. A., Roebroeck, A., Sack, A. T. (2008). Chronometry of functional relevance in the effective connectivity network underlying visual-spatial judgment. Brain Stimulation. 1(3), p. 306

De Graaf, T. A., Roebroeck, A., Sack, A. T. (2009). Frontal-to-parietal projections within a complex right-hemispheric network underlie visuospatial judgment. Neuroimage. 47(Supp1).

De Graaf, T. A., de Jong, M. C., Goebel, R., van Ee., R., Sack, A. T. (2010). The Brain Changing its Mind. Journal of Vision (VSS proceedings 2010)

De Graaf, T. A., de Jong, M. C., Goebel, R., van Ee., R., Sack, A. T. (2010). On the role of Frontoparietal Cortices in Bistable Vision and Voluntary Control. Neuroimage, (HBM proceedings 2010)