About Raquel
Raquel van Gool is a research fellow in the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her interest in the brain began early, driven by a fascination with how mental processes emerge from interconnected neural systems. She pursued a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Clinical Psychology, followed by a Research Master’s in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at Maastricht University.
During her graduate training, Raquel worked extensively with Boston Children’s Hospital, where she developed a strong interest in neuropathic conditions and lysosomal storage diseases. This experience shaped her focus on translational neuroscience and the use of advanced neuroimaging to better understand rare neurological disorders.
Raquel’s current research investigates the neurological manifestations of lysosomal storage diseases, with a particular emphasis on Pompe disease and Niemann–Pick disease type C, as a member of Dr. Jaymin Upadhyay’s research team. Her work integrates multimodal neuroimaging with behavioral, speech, and clinical measures to examine how disruptions in brain networks relate to symptom severity across cognitive, motor, and behavioral domains. Through this systems-level approach, she aims to improve understanding of brain–body interactions in rare disease and contribute insights that extend to broader neurological and psychiatric conditions
Raquel’s research career is driven by a commitment to broad participation in scientific discovery and access to scientific knowledge. Alongside her academic work, she has been involved in humanitarian and outreach initiatives focused on increasing awareness of science and health beyond traditional academic settings.
In 2018, she participated in national and international public engagement platforms, including the Miss Asia Pacific International pageant, as a way to reach broader audiences outside academia. Through this experience, she became acutely aware of how uneven access to scientific knowledge and research participation remains globally. This reinforced her motivation to advocate for inclusive scientific communication and greater opportunities for communities to engage with science, health, and technology.