Biography
Margot Morssinkhof is a researcher working at the department of Medical Psychology at the Amsterdam UMC. As a PhD student, she was embedded in the department of Psychiatry at the OLVG and the departments of Psychiatry and Endocrinology of the Amsterdam UMC.
Her research focuses on the associations between sex hormones, sleep and depression. Specifically, she studied assications between oral contraceptive use, sleep and insomnia, and she studies the effects of gender-affirming hormone therapy on sleep and mood in transgender persons. Her broader research interest is in sex- and gender sensitive research in neuroscience and psychiatry.
Research
Publications
Morssinkhof, M.W.L., Wiepjes, C.M., van den Heuvel, O.A., Kreukels, B.P.C., van der Tuuk, K., T’Sjoen, G., den Heijer, M. and Broekman, B.F.P., (2023). Changes in depression symptom profile with gender-affirming hormone use in transgender persons. Journal of affective disorders.
Open access: PDF
Morssinkhof, M. W. L., van der Werf, Y. D., van den Heuvel, O. A., van den Ende, D. A., van der Tuuk, K., den Heijer, M., & Broekman, B. F. P. (2023). Influence of sex hormone use on sleep architecture in a transgender cohort. SLEEP
Open access: PDF
Preprint can be found here: Preprint
Morssinkhof, M. W. L., Wiepjes, C., Bosman, B. W., Kinds, J., Fisher, A. D., Greenman, Y., Kreukels, B. P. C., T’Sjoen, G., van der Werf, Y. D., den Heijer, M., Broekman, B. F. P. (2023). Sex hormones, insomnia and sleep quality: Subjective sleep in the first year of hormone use in transgender persons. Sleep Medicine, 107, 316-326.
Open access: PDF
Preregistered analysis plan can be found here: https://osf.io/jscpw/
Morssinkhof, M. W. L., Lamers, F., Hoogendoorn, A. W., de Wit, A. E., Riese, H., Giltay, E. J., … & Broekman, B. F. (2021). Oral contraceptives, depressive and insomnia symptoms in adult women with and without depression. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 133, 105390.
Open access: PDF
This paper was awarded the Descartes prize for best publication on soma and psyche at OLVG Hospitals, 2022.
Morssinkhof, M. W. L., van Wylick, D. W., Priester-Vink, S., van der Werf, Y. D., den Heijer, M., van den Heuvel, O. A., & Broekman, B. F. P. (2020). Associations between sex hormones, sleep problems and depression: A systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
Open access: PDF
Ronay, R., Tybur, J. M., van Huijstee, D., & Morssinkhof, M. (2017). Embodied power, testosterone, and overconfidence as a causal pathway to risk-taking. Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, 2(1), 28-43.
Open access: PDF
Preprints
Morssinkhof, M. W. L., Zwager, A., van der Tuuk, K., den Heijer, M., van der Werf, Y. D., Stenvers, D. J., & Broekman, B. F. P. (2023). Chronotype changes after sex hormone use: a prospective cohort study in transgender users of gender-affirming hormones. medRxiv, 2023-06.
Open access: PDF
Previous and current projects
Working in the team of the AFFIRM Relationships project, an ERC-funded project led by dr. David Doyle. In this project, we use qualitative and prospective quantitative studies to examine well-being in transgender people starting gender-affirming hormones.
Working within the team of the ENIGI study, a large multicenter Europen cohort study assessing well-being of transgender persons during their gender-affirming treatments. For more information, see Dekker et al., 2016 (linked here) or visit www.enigistudy.com
The RESTED study: a multicenter prospective cohort study, working with transgender persons starting gender-affirming hormone use to assess whether they experience changes in their mood, sleep quality, sleep rythm and sensitivity to stress during their hormonal transition. For more information, see www.restedonderzoek.com (Dutch).
Talks and teaching
Conference talks
European Menopause and Andropause Society conference 2023: Effects of exogenous sex hormone use on sleep and depression: lessons learned from transgender users of gender-affirming hormones
Voorjaarscongres 2022 of the Dutch Society for Psychiatrists: Insomnia and sleep quality during the first 12 months of gender-affirming hormone use
Voorjaarscongres 2022 of the Dutch Society for Psychiatrists: Oral contraceptives, depression and insomnia
SLAAP2021 conference: Sleep and Sex hormones.
European Menopause and Andropause Society 2021: Sex hormones, depression and sleep, the knowns and the unknowns.
EPATH 2021 conference: Insomnia during the first 12 months of gender-affirming hormone use.
SLAAP 2019 conference: The influence of sex hormones on sleep during the reproductive age.
Lectures and workshops
Lecture in the Gender minor of the Medicine Bachelor at the Vrije Universiteit (2021; 2022; 2023): The neurobiology of sex hormones, depression and sleep
Workshop at the course Neuroendocrinology at the Vrije Universiteit: Sex and gender in scientific research (2022, 2023), Sex, gender and intersectionality in neuroscience research (2021) and the Role of sex hormones in neuroscience research (2020)
Supervision of MSc research internships
Supervising 12 students in their research internships, including students from the department of Medicine, students from Psychology and Neuroscience and a student from Health and Life Sciences.
Media
Interview about her PhD research in the “Jong Geleerd” section of the NRC: Find it linked here.
Opinion piece about hormonal contraceptive counseling in de Volkskrant: Find it linked here.
Interview about oral contraceptive and mental well-being in Folia: Find it linked here.
Guest at the Talk That Science podcast, talking about sex hormones, sleep and depression: Find the episode linked here.
Contributed to Tijd voor Slaap, a booklet about sleep and health by Biomaatschappij. Authored by Eus van Someren and others, free to download here, contribution on page 19.
Contributed to materials for De Menopauze Specialist about the menopause and sleep. Video material can be found here: YouTube Link.
Awards and prizes
Awarded the Amsterdam UMC Young Talent Fund 2022 to further study the association between oral contraceptives and sleep.
Awarded the Descartes prize 2022 from OLVG Hospitals for best publication on soma-psyche topics:
Vice-chair of the Start NVG&G, the Dutch Society for Gender and Health for early career researchers (January of 2022 to November of 2023).
Junior member of the Societal-Scientific Advisory Board of the Dutch PMDD foundation.
Awarded the ZonMW Sex and Gender in Research Fellowship 2021
Contact
Want to talk to me? Find me on Twitter, LinkedIn or Google Scholar.
Margot W. L. Morssinkhof 