Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam
Rotterdam, NL
Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (www.erasmusmc.nl) is committed to a healthy population and excellence in healthcare through research and education. It is the largest medical center in the Netherlands, excelling in various research fields, including fundamental, clinical, public health and prevention research. It is ranked the 12th best University in Europe for Medicine (QS World University Ranking). In addition to scientific research, patient care and education are core tasks of Erasmus MC. It is the top referral centre for a region of about five million inhabitants. Erasmus MC is the largest medical school in the Netherlands, with over 4,000 medical students and 250 PhD graduations each year. Together, the students and almost 14,000 employees at Erasmus MC improve the individual patient care and public health of tomorrow. The Core Facility Generation R runs the Generation R Programme, which is focused on life-course health and includes two population-based cohorts: Generation R (10,000 children included during pregnancy, born 2002-2006, and their parents) and Generation R Next (3500 mothers, 2500 children, born 2018-2021). Twenty departments participate in the Generation R Programme, as well as other faculties of Erasmus University and the City of Rotterdam.
Role in the project
As leaders of Work Package 5 (WP5), Erasmus MC leads the investigation into the immune-mediated effects of EDCs and their correlation with human health outcomes. This involves analyzing the associations between EDC exposure and inflammatory immune markers, thereby uncovering the underlying biological pathways involved. Additionally, Erasmus MC co-leads Work Package 1 (WP1), which aims to assess the health effects linked to exposure to EDC mixtures across various stages of human life.
Team
Liesbeth Duijts
Liesbeth Duijts is Associated Professor and works as Paediatrician- Pulmonologist / Epidemiol in the Department of Paediatrics at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her research focuses on unravelling how environmental exposures, genetics and their interactions in specific critical periods of early life lead to structural and functional developmental adaptations, and subsequent risk of respiratory diseases across the life course. Her research is largely embedded within the prospective population-based Generation R cohorts (~10,000 children; Principal Investigator (PI) Asthma and Atopy Group). As PI for Allergy and Respiratory Health in this study, she aims to gain insight into the effect of exposure to EDC mixtures assessed at various time windows on allergies and respiratory health from childhood to adulthood, through alteration of the immune system function.
Janine Felix
Janine Felix is Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Her team’s research aims to understand biological mechanisms underlying the associations of early-life exposures and later health, especially cardiometabolic health. She is Deputy Head of the Generation R Study, a population-based birth cohort of almost 10,000 participants. As Principal Investigator (PI) for Epigenetics in this study, she uses (epi-)genome-wide data in combination with other ‘omics and detailed phenotypic data to gain insight into these processes.