Dick Swaab
| Dick Swaab | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 17, 1944 Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Professor, Physician. |
| Field | Medicine |
| Institutions | Universiteit van Amsterdam |
| Specialism | Neuroendocrinology |
| Research | Brain Development |
| Notable prizes | Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion |
Dick Frans Swaab (born 17 December 1944) is a Dutch physician and neurobiologist who is a famous brain researcher. He is a professor of neurobiology at the University of Amsterdam and was until 2005 Director of the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research (Nederlands Instituut voor Hersenonderzoek) of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen).
Swaab graduated at the Amsterdams Lyceum in 1963. He received his doctorate of medicine at the University of Amsterdam in 1968, and his Ph.D. in 1970 with professor J. Ariëns Kappers on a neuroendocrine thesis, and in 1972 he received his medical degree. He was from 1978 the director of the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research. In 1979 he was appointed professor of neurobiology at the University of Amsterdam. In 1985 he founded the Nederlandse Hersenbank—known in English as The Netherlands Brain Bank—to facilitate international research on brain diseases.
Swaab is an atheist.
Swaab is best known for his research and discoveries in the field of brain anatomy and physiology, in particular the impact that various hormonal and biochemical factors in the womb have on brain development. Another area of Swaab's work, which has drawn much attention, is his research on how sexual dimorphism relates to brain anatomy, as well as research relating to sexual orientation and transsexuality. Through his years of research, Swaab, according to his own words, came to the deterministic and materialistic conclusion that brains are not things we have, but rather brains are what we are: the physical and chemical processes in our brains determine how we react and who we are. Currently, Swaab is most active in the field of depression and Alzheimer's research.
...
Wikipedia