New Professor of Clinical Psychology: Prof. Dr. Ilona Croy​

Prof. Croy studied psychology and completed her training in psychodynamic psychotherapy in Dresden, where she also received her doctorate. She then spent three years as a postdoctoral researcher in Gothenburg and continued her research as Associate Senior Lecturer in Linköping, Sweden. Finally, she returned to the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine at the University Hospital in Dresden, where she heads the research department. Together with her team she studies the interface between mental health, internal and sensory perception, and the underlying neural principles. She is particularly interested in how olfaction and affective touch shape our social behavior, for example in the modulation of parent-child interactions or in the emergence of partnerships. Furthermore, she examines the influence of misprocessed sensations on the development and maintenance of mental illnesses.

Prof. Croy is fascinated by both the human brain and large data sets. In 2017 she was awarded for her excellent supervision of doctoral students. In Jena, she is particularly looking forward to studying the simultaneous brain functions of two interacting people.