During my PhD (2011), I was trained as a fundamental researcher in neuropsychiatry. Today, I work as a senior-researcher in mental health where I use my skills as a scientist and my experience in the clinical setting to conduct scientific research that is based upon actual questions from clinical practice. Upon finishing my PhD, I took up the challenge to set up a research group at a department of Lentis Psychiatric Institute where people with severe mental illness live and receive treatment. This was a challenge indeed, as at the department both patients and staff were not used to contribute to scientific research. In the past seven years, I have been in close contact with both staff and patients and I collect the outstanding questions and challenges that both patients and staff face. These form the basis for my scientific questions and research projects. In the past seven years my research group has grown from only one (myself) to seven people who are committed to the patient group and excited to do clinically relevant scientific research that contributes to the recovery of people with severe mental illness.Vice versa, I translate new knowledge from the scientific literature to the clinical practice and inform my colleagues on the latest relevant developments in the literature and contribute to the development of clinical standards and innovations in mental health care. The most influential contribution is the development of a new clinical care model, inspired by the recovery movement, for the treatment of people with severe mental illness who need longer term intensive psychiatric care: the Active Recovery Triad. In 2016 we published the workbook ART and now, not even two years later, ART has developed into a movement that finds support in almost every mental health institution. As a member of various workgroups and committees, I aim to bring clinical practice and scientific research closer together.