Ellen T.M. Laan

Dr. Ellen Laan is a licensed psychologist and sexologist and Professor at the Department of Sexology and Psychosomatic Gynaecology of the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After her PhD (cum laude) in 1994, she became a postdoctoral fellow of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995. Until 2005 she was Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, responsible for the general training of clinical psychology Master’s students as well as for their sexology education. Presently she is Professor at the Department of Sexology and Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam. She treats patients with sexual problems and somatically unexplained gynaecological problems, and studies the biopsychosocial determinants of sexual health, with a specific focus on women’s sexual problems and pleasure. She wrote over 150 peer reviewed papers and book chapters. She was advisor to the DSM-5 sub-committee on diagnostic criteria for the sexual dysfunctions, a member of the Standards Committee of the International Society for Sexual Medicine, served as President of the International Academy of Sex Research, and was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of Leuven, Belgium, in 2012.