Wouter D. van Marken Lichtenbelt
Professor Emeritus Ecological Energetics and Health
School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM)
Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
markenlichtenbelt@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt is former head of the research group Thermophysiology & Metabolism Maastricht University (TherMU: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/thermu)
The fundamental aspect of the research line is the effect of environmental temperatures on physiology and behavior. This ranges from indoor environment in western populations to extreme conditions in Siberia.
The study results show significant beneficial effects of excursions outside the thermoneutral zone; i.e. being exposed to heat and cold positively affects metabolic and cardiovascular health and increases resilience to extremes.
The applied part of the research puts emphasis on how daily indoor environmental conditions relate to thermal comfort, behavior, health and prevention of the metabolic syndrome. His group searches for an optimal mix of different lifestyles and environmental factors to create a healthy sustainable indoor environment.
Title of his talk:
Human thermal adaptation and health: Individual and cultural aspects
Hugo D. Critchley
Professor, Chair of Psychiatry
Trafford Centre for Medical Research, University of Sussex, UK
H.Critchley@bsms.ac.uk
Hugo Critchley is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) University of Sussex, since his appointment as foundation Chair of Psychiatry in2026. With particular relevance to emotion, Hugo’s research focuses on mind-brain-body interactions in health and in different psychological and physical conditions.
Hugo has published influential studies on autonomic control and on interoception, i.e. how changes inside our body influence how we perceive, think, feel and act. This work integrates neuroimaging, physiological monitoring, and clinical studies of patients with specific mental and physical health conditions.
Clinically, Hugo is trained in neuropsychiatry and works within a clinical service he co-developed in 2006 for adults with neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism, ADHD and Tourette syndrome. Hugo trained in physiology and medicine at the University of Liverpool, undertook a doctorate in experimental psychology at the University of Oxford and developed his academic career while training in psychiatry in London at KCL and UCL.
Title of his talk:
How our bodily state shapes the way we perceive the world