Dr Rosa Hoekstra

Lecturer in Psychology

Profile

Dr Rosa Hoekstra is a lecturer in The Open University's Science faculty. After completing her PhD in Behavior Genetics at the VU University in Amsterdam, she continued her research at Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre. Since 2009 she combines her autism research with teaching in the fields of Psychology and Genetics.

Her academic interests broadly cover three themes:

i) Furthering the understanding of the heterogeneity of autism, by developing quantitative instruments to assess the variable expression of the autism phenotype, and exploring the genetic and environmental influences on the autism phenotype using both twin and family study designs.

ii) The epidemiology of autism and understanding the factors that may account for regional differences in autism prevalence rates.

iii) Global perspectives on autism, with a special focus on Africa.

In her family and epidemiology studies of autism she collaborates with colleagues at the Autism Research Centre of Cambridge University, where she is a visiting scientist.

At The Open University, she chairs the level 1 module ‘SK195 Human Genetics and Health Issues’ and she teaches the module ‘SK124 Understanding the Autism Spectrum’, a highly successful introductory autism course that had over 1,100 students in each of the first three years of module presentation. She co-authored the textbook for this module, which is co-published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers as Roth, I., Barson, C., Hoekstra, R.A., Pasco, G., and Whatson, T.W., 2010. The Autism Spectrum in the 21st Century: Exploring Psychology, Biology and Practice.

She worked as an academic editor on The Open University’s Health Education And Training (HEAT) project in Ethiopia and had the prime responsibility for the production of the mental health study sessions for this project, working intensively with a group of Ethiopian psychiatrists and mental health experts. Together with co-investigators at The Open University and Addis Ababa University, she currently leads an Autism Speaks-funded study that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the HEAT mental health module in raising general mental health awareness and knowledge about autism and to support further development of this part of the curriculum to ensure maximum impact.

Please see the tab 'Publications' for her publication list and links to the full text of peer-reviewed articles.