Marit Sijbrandij, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions. Her research focuses on psychological responses to trauma and adversity, with an emphasis on early interventions aimed at preventing common mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She has led and contributed to multiple randomized controlled trials evaluating both face-to-face and digital psychological interventions. Much of her work centers on scalable approaches that can be delivered by non-specialists, particularly in settings with limited mental health resources, or for populatios with limited access to effective mental health care, such as people with a refugee or migrant background. Among her major projects is the STRENGTHS, a Horizon 2020-funded initiative that examined the effectiveness and implementation of the WHO-developed Problem Management Plus (PM+) intervention for Syrian refugees across eight countries in Europe and the Middle East. The project focused on adapting and scaling up low-intensity psychological support in diverse cultural and health system contexts, among which the digital intervention Step-by-Step.
She also coordinated RESPOND, a European research project launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. RESPOND aimed to identify populations most at risk of mental health challenges due to the pandemic and to evaluate remotely delivered stepped-care interventions—such as the digital tool Doing What Matters in Times of Stress and PM+—to address psychological distress in vulnerable groups across several European countries. In addition, she has contributed to projects such as U-RISE, which explored digital mental health tools for people displaced by the war in Ukraine. Her work also includes studies on the prevalence and predictors of mental health problems in trauma-exposed populations, with a consistent focus on improving access to evidence-based care through culturally adaptable and cost-effective methods.