
Functie:
Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Exposome Science
Functie:
Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Exposome Science
Prof. Roel Vermeulen is Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Exposome Science at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University and at the Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMCU), The Netherlands. In 2024 Prof. Vermeulen was appointed as ‘Distinguished University Professor’ of Utrecht University, an honour aimed at outstanding researchers with an interdisciplinary appeal and breadth of vision.
He is Scientific Director of the Institute 4 Preventive Health (i4PH), which is part of the alliance between the TU Eindhoven, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht. He chairs the planetary health community of Utrecht Life Sciences at Utrecht University and holds a visiting professor position at Imperial College London, UK. He was formerly employed by the National Cancer Institute (NIH), USA.
Prof. Vermeulen’s scientific research focuses on environmental risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, with a strong emphasis on integrating epidemiology, high-quality exposure/exposome assessment and molecular biology into multidisciplinary investigations in order to:
• Identify new risks, clarify exposure-response relationships, and effect modification by individual susceptibility, and elucidate underlying mechanisms of disease; and
• Implement and evaluate interventions in real-world settings.
His studies in these areas have highlighted the limitations in current exposure and epidemiological approaches, and the critical need for developing new methods to quantify the external and internal exposome through use of high-resolution exposure monitoring and ‘omics signatures'.
He coordinates the Dutch research program on the exposome (Exposome-NL), leads an EU project (EXPANSE) as part of the European Human Exposome Network, coordinates the Dutch Hub of the European infrastructure on Exposome research (EIRENE-NL), co-coordinates the International Human Exposome Network (IHEN) and coordinates an EU project on micro- and nanoplastics (AURORA). He is the Principal Investigator of several large case-control and prospective (biobank) studies in occupational and the general population.
Prof. Roel Vermeulen has served on many international committees including the WHO and the National Toxicology Program in the USA. He was a member of the Dutch Health Council for over 12 years and has authored/co-authored over 800 academic publications. Bio_Roel_Vermeulen_July_2024.pdf