I'm a Senior Lecturer (Assistant/Associate Professor equivalent) at the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia. I am also the inaugural Director of the Contemplative Studies Centre within the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences.
My research focuses on those things that make us most like robots (i.e., algorithmic approaches to learning and decision-making) and least like robots (i.e., developing capacities for introspection and insight of self-concept via meditation research) -- hence DALEC Lab. My goals in this research are to understand the human condition and to use the understanding to mitigate maladaptive functioning and increase adaptive functioning.
(1) Conceptualizations and implementations of mindfulness (especially in relation to high-prevalence psychiatric disorders).
(1) Subjective and behavioral basis and assessment of high-prevalence psychiatric disorders (i.e., anxiety, depression, substance use).
3) Understanding decision-making processes among individuals with high-prevalence psychiatric disorders.
Dr. NICHOLAS T VAN DAM
Dr. NICHOLAS T VAN DAM
WHAT'S GOT MY ATTENTION
RECENT ARTICLES
Mind the hype: A critical evaluation and prescriptive agenda for research on mindfulness and meditation.
Perspectives on Psychological Science,
13, 36-61. (2018)
Effects of chronic physical disease and systemic inflammation on suicide risk in patients with depression: a hospital-based case–control study
Psychological Medicine, 50, 29-37. (2020)
Amygdala–prefrontal connectivity modulates loss aversion bias in anxious individuals.
NeuroImage, 120, 116957. (2020)
59 Publications
5,158 Citations
Mostly harmless