Team members

Responsibilities

Professor Jérôme Endrass studied psychology, psychopathology and philosophy in Zurich. From 1996 to 2003, he worked as a researcher at the psychiatric university hospital Zurich. Since 2003, he has held a leading position in Corrections and Rehabilitation in Zurich's Department of Justice and Home Affairs, since 2019 as head of research. In 2008, he completed his habilitation (postdoctoral qualification) at the University of Zurich and since 2011 has been co-head of the Forensic Psychology research team at the University of Konstanz. Since 2021, he has also been deputy co-head of the forensic research department at the University of Basel. He is an expert psychologist for psychotherapy FSP, as well as a certified forensic expert of the Swiss Society of Forensic Psychiatry (SGFP). Jérôme Endrass is the author and co-author of 4 textbooks and over 130 scientific papers in journals and textbooks. He is president of the Forensic Psychology Section of the SGFP. At the University of Konstanz, he is director of the continuing education master's programme in forensic psychology.

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Dr Astrid Rossegger (PD) studied psychology and criminology in Konstanz. Since 2000, she has specialized in the field of forensic psychology. She completed her doctorate in 2008 and her habilitation (postdoctoral qualification) at the University of Konstanz in 2016. Since 2011, she has co-headed the Forensic Psychology research team at the University of Konstanz. Since 2019, she has been the deputy head of research in Corrections and Rehabilitation in Zurich's Department of Justice and Home Affairs, as well as deputy co-head of the forensic research department at the University of Basel. She is an expert psychologist for law psychology FSP, as well as a certified forensic expert of the SGFP. Astrid Rossegger is the author and co-author of 2 textbooks and over 100 scientific papers in journals and textbooks. She is a board member of the Forensic Psychology Section of the SGFP. At the University of Konstanz, Astrid Rossegger is director of the continuing education master's programme in forensic psychology.

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María Isabel Fontao studied psychology at the University of Buenos Aires. From 1996 to 2000, she completed further education as a clinical psychologist with a special focus on children and adolescents, and worked as a lecturer and research assistant at the chair of developmental psychology at the University of Buenos Aires. In 2004, she earned her doctorate at the University of Ulm. She worked as an academic staff member in the department of forensic psychotherapy at the University of Ulm (2003 to 2006) as well as at the hospital for forensic psychiatry and psychotherapy at the Centre for Psychiatry Reichenau (2008 to 2012). Since 2012, she has practiced as a psychological psychotherapist according to PsychThG at the Hochschulambulanz für Forschung und Lehre (outpatient mental health services) at the University of Konstanz. Since 2014, she has worked as an academic staff member in the research group Forensic Psychology, and has been the study programme coordinator and student advisor for the continuing education master's programme Forensic Psychology at the University of Konstanz. She is corresponding researcher at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, Argentina).

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Marcel Aebi finished his studies in psychology, psychopathology of children and adolescents and criminology at the University of Zurich in 2001. He completed the master of advanced studies at the Akademie für Verhaltenstherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters (academy for behavioral therapy for children and adolescents) in 2009. From 2009 to 2020 he headed the evaluation and quality management department of the psychiatric university hospital Zurich and the children and adolescents psychiatric service (KJPD) in Zurich. From 2009 to 2015 he completed the vocational training in law psychology (FSP), worked as a forensic therapist and provided expert assessments at the department of children and adolescents forensics of the psychiatric university hospital Zurich. From 2015 to 2017 Marcel Aebi worked as a forensic therapist and provided expert assessments at the psychotherapeutic center of the psychological institute of the University of Zurich. Marcel Aebi was habilitated at the University of Zurich for the area of expertise ‘psychology in child and adolescent psychiatry’ in 2017. He works as a therapist in his own practice since 2017. Since 2020 he is an academic staff member of the research and development department of the Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Zurich.

Responsibilities

Juliane Gerth studied psychology at the Martin-Luther-University in Halle-Wittenberg (Germany), specializing in clinical and pedagogic psychology, as well as criminology as a minor subject. In 2015, Juliane Gerth completed her doctorate at the University of Konstanz on the topic of standardized risk assessment in case of violent and sex offenders. Since 2009, she has worked as an academic staff member at the department of evaluation, development and quality management at the Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Zurich: from 2013 to 2019 she was the vice-director of that department and since 2019 she worked as a senior researcher and member of the executive board of the research and development department. Since 2013, she has also been an associated member of the research group Forensic Psychology at the University of Konstanz. She also teaches at the University of Konstanz.

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Valerie Profes studied law at the Universities of Mannheim and Mainz and passed her 2nd state examination at the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz in 2001. After briefly working as a lawyer, she worked for 15 years at the Bundeskriminalamt in Wiesbaden. From 2009, she headed the Operative Fallanalyse und Risikobewertung (OFA) unit. Since 2017, she has worked at Corrections and Rehabilitation in Zurich's Department of Justice and Home Affairs. She initially headed the Ausbildung, Compliance und Sicherheit Department (Deputy Head of Human Resources) and has now been working as a senior scientist and member of management in the Forschung & Entwicklung Department since 2019. Since 2022, she has been a lecturer in the Forensic Psychology continuing education master's program at the University of Konstanz.

Responsibilities

Nina Schnyder studied psychology at the Universities of Basel and Bern, specializing in clinical and social psychology. From 2013 to 2014 she worked for the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport as a risk profiler. Afterwards, she worked as a research assistant at the University Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Bern and completed her PhD in 2017 on the topic of "Stigmatization of people with mental illnesses and help-seeking behavior". She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation at the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland and the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research in Brisbane, Australia. Since 2020, she is a research associate at the Department of Research & Development, Corrections and Reintegration (JuWe) of the Canton of Zurich, where she conducts applied research and development projects in forensic psychology. She is a lecturer at the University of Konstanz.

Responsibilities

Frank Urbaniok studied medicine in Münster and Düsseldorf. From 1989 to 1995, he worked at the hospital “Rheinische Landesklinik Langenfeld” in North Rhine-Westphalia, from 1992 on as a specialist for psychiatry and psychotherapy. From 1992 to 1995, he established a model ward for the treatment of sex offenders with a personality disorder (Langenfelder model) and coined the term “deliktorientiertes Arbeiten” (offence-oriented therapy). Since 1995, he has worked with the Office for the Execution of Penal Sentences and Justice in Zurich, where he has been head of department since 1997. He also works as a psychotherapist, supervisor, and provides psychiatric assessments. For many years, he was the president of the “Institut für Opferschutz und Täterbehandlung (IOT)” (institute for victim protection and offender treatment) in Switzerland, and significantly participated in establishing the postgraduate programme “Forensische Fachqualifikation” (forensic specialist qualification). Since 1999, he has been a member of the management board of the Office for the Execution of Penal Sentences and Justice as well as of several expert councils and commissions. He focuses on violent and sexual offences, using, among other things, specifically offence-oriented treatment. With FOTRES (forensic operationalized therapy and risk-evaluation system), he developed his own quality management and documentation tool for the risk assessment of offenders. Moreover, he leads several forensic therapy and research projects. Another focus of his work is the development of team concepts, for example, he is a co-founder of the model “Teamorientierte stationäre Behandlung (TSB)" (team-oriented inpatient treatment).

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Responsibilities

Michael Weber studied psychology at the Universities of Freiburg, Basel and Konstanz, specialising in clinical psychology and neuroscience as well as forensic psychology. Between 2014 and 2023, he worked at the University of Konstanz in the Forensic Psychology working group as a research fellow in various externally funded projects (funding by: Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Homeland; Swiss Federal Office of Justice). Since 2019, Michael Weber has been working as a research fellow in the Research & Development Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation of the Canton of Zurich. Since 2023, he has also been working at the Clinic for Forensics at the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel within the EU Horizon Project "2PS: Prevent & Protect Through Support". His research focuses on the risk assessment and management of violent and sexual offenders, including violent extremism, the effectiveness of forensic interventions and the correlation between mental disorders and violence. He teaches in various seminars on the Bachelor's of Psychology programme at the University of Konstanz.

Responsibilities

Bernd Borchard studied psychology in Göttingen. From 1992 to 1994, he worked in Kassel in the prison’s psychological service and the socio-therapeutic facility. From 1994 to 2009, he worked in the forensic psychiatric hospital in Moringen. In 1999, he earned the approbation as a psychological psychotherapist and has been a lecturer and supervisor since 2000. Bernd Borchard provides expert assessments on questions of legal culpability and risks of recidivism. In addition to that, he is a FOTRES trainer and supervisor.
From 2009 to 2015, he established and headed the forensic-psychiatric department of the psychiatric-psychological service (PPD) in the Pöschwies prison (therapy specialization: highly dangerous sex and violent offenders with a personality disorder) and is a co-editor of the book “Interventionen bei Gewalt- und Sexualstraftätern” (2012, "Interventions with sex and violent offenders"). From 2015 to 2017, he headed the unit of risk and intervention evaluation at the PPD in Zurich, and was a member of the board of directors of the Office for the Execution of Penal Sentences and Justice from September 2017 to June 2019, where he headed the department of evaluation, development and quality management. Since July 2019, Bernd Borchard has been a member of the management board of the newly organized and positioned research and development department of the Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Zurich. He also is the chairperson of the Examination Board of the continuing education master's programme Forensic Psychology at the University of Konstanz.

Responsibilities

PD Dr. med. Andreas Hill is a specialist for psychiatry and psychotherapy (based on depth psychology), a forensic psychiatrist and sexual scientist and therapist. From 2000 to 2008, he was a senior physician at the “Institut für Sexualforschung und Forensische Psychiatrie” (institute for sexual research and forensic psychiatry ) of the university hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, and from 2000 to 2007, director of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sexualwissenschaft (German society for sexology). Habilitation (postdoctoral qualification) in 2008 about sexual homicide. Since 2009, he has had his own psychotherapy and forensic psychiatry practice in Hamburg and has also worked in research, teaching and continuing education.