As a former artistic gymnast, Anja learned early on that the body and mind are very much a team and that both tend to perform best when challenged. Years of training not only shaped her movement skills, but also sparked her curiosity about how we think, feel, and behave – and how to stay calm while upside down.

This curiosity led her to explore the human brain and behavior more deeply, so she pursued a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in psychology with a focus on clinical psychology and neuroscience. Along the way, she traded the gym for the lab, while keeping her fascination for life’s twists and turns. Alongside her studies, she worked as a research assistant on projects investigating how the body and brain interact across the lifespan. Turns out, getting people to move is sometimes easier than getting them to sit still in an experiment.

Jumping from research assistant to PhD candidate, she carried the same curiosity into bigger challenges. Her research focuses on motor, cognitive, and emotional development in children and adolescents affected by neurodevelopmental disorders. Beyond that, she is particularly interested in how lifestyle interventions can improve the ability to cope with life’s ups, downs, and occasional wheelies during the transition from childhood to adolescence. She combines behavioral research with neurophysiological measurements, because understanding what happens “behind the scenes” of the brain is just as exciting as what we observe from the outside.

Through her research, she aims to expand our understanding of child and adolescent development and to share insights beyond academia to make a real difference for families and their everyday life. And if she can help kids keep their balance when life gets wobbly – and even enjoy the ride – then she is exactly where she is supposed to be.