Nikki van Dorp

Background

About Nikki van Dorp

I received my BSc in Biology and Medical Laboratory Research in 2019 from the University of Applied Science Leiden. After a yearlong internship at BlinkLab at the Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus UMC) where I used Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning procedures to study aspects of associative learning in behavioral assays, I joined the CUBE lab at Erasmus UMC. Here I was working as a Research Technician/prospect PhD student to help study the way the brain orchestrates motor adaptation and motor learning using functional ultrasound. Whereas the project was interesting, I wanted to experience a new challenge and accepted the opportunity to join the Kocher lab at Princeton University as a Senior Research Specialist. I studied the mechanisms that generate variation in social behavior by combining cutting-edge genomic and neurobiological tools with field and lab studies. Setting up new molecular techniques helped the research group to better understand the mechanisms that influence evolutionary gains and losses of social behavior. Wanting to further develop my skills, I am working as a Research Associate at HUB Organoids. Within the Disease and Toxicology Models Department, I contribute to develop new assays and models in the field of adult stem cell-derived organoids.