Themes for Innovation

Prevention & Lifestyle

Prevention and lifestyle are crucial in modern medicine. They have been repeatedly proven to form a cost-effective means to prevent the occurrence of disease and diminish or prevent its progression or complications.

Vision and mission

Important lifestyle changes include stopping smoking, improvement of dietary habits, increasing the amount of physical activity and exercise, and reducing stress. Effective self-management and the use of eHealth are key to achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Because of its widespread potential for a variety of diseases, the theme Prevention and Lifestyle is relevant for all patient groups and healthcare professionals, both in and outside LUMC. For that reason, we intend to further increase the implementation of this theme in clinical practice, research, and education.

Vision and mission

Important lifestyle changes include stopping smoking, improvement of dietary habits, increasing the amount of physical activity and exercise, and reducing stress. Effective self-management and the use of eHealth are key to achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Because of its widespread potential for a variety of diseases, the theme Prevention and Lifestyle is relevant for all patient groups and healthcare professionals, both in and outside LUMC. For that reason, we intend to further increase the implementation of this theme in clinical practice, research, and education.

Our mission is to:

  • Strengthen research collaborations with LUMC within our Prevention and Lifestyle theme and between multiple other research themes.
  • Intensity education on prevention and lifestyle in the Medicine bachelor and postgraduate education for medical and non-medical healthcare professionals. Furthermore, we aim to provide training courses on prevention and lifestyle intervention for all relevant researchers and healthcare providers at LUMC.
  • Motivate influential medical and non-medical clinicians and researchers to reach out to society about prevention and lifestyle.
  • To keep talented LUMC researchers in LUMC and attract new talent from outside LUMC.

“Prevention and lifestyle should form the cornerstone in every clinical practice.”

About us

Dr. Mariëtte Boon is an internal medicine specialist in training and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Endocrinology. Her research focuses on combating obesity by increasing energy metabolism. She has co-authored over 75 scientific publications and has received numerous awards, including the KNAW-Heineken Young Scientist Award. Furthermore, she has received more than 10 personal grants, including the NWO-Veni grant (2020). She is actively involved in the social aspects of obesity and, together with Prof. Liesbeth van Rossum (Erasmus MC), has written the international bestseller ‘VET belangrijk’. She was the founder and former president of the Young Dutch Association of Endocrinology (JNVE).

Email: m.r.boon@lumc.nl

Prof. Dr. Niels Chavannes is a family physician and professor of eHealth Applications in Population Health Management at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at LUMC, visiting professor at Fudan University’s Respiratory Research Institute (Shanghai, China), and head of the Prevention & Lifestyle Theme at LUMC’s Research Council. He’s the Vice-Chair of the Dutch Asthma and COPD Advisory Group and National Advisor of the Dutch Action Program on Chronic Lung Diseases of Lung Alliance Netherlands. He founded the National eHealth Living Lab, has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, and contributed to 18 books.

n.h.chavannes@lumc.nl

Sub-themes

Currently, at various departments at LUMC, research on the Prevention and Lifestyle theme is already alive and embedded in several projects. However, the coherence of the initiatives and research around our theme can be improved as not all researchers and caretakers know what initiatives and research take place at LUMC.

Furthermore, there’s a need for joint meetings to further intensify collaborations and the opportunity to write large grants together, which may further improve LUMC’s national and international position. With our mission in mind, we have divided our theme into the following subthemes:

Research collaborations and alliences

The research on this theme is performed with many national and international collaborators, including:

  • Pharmaceutical companies (for example, TNO, Sense Health, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Descin BV Amsterdam, Manometric Holding BV Delft, Cue2Walk International BV Den Haag, Jagaco BV Zoetermeer, Samson IT)
  • Healthcare providers ( for example, Zorg en Zekerheid, Menzis)
  • Healthcare associations (for example, Arts en Leefstijl, Nhg, Foodfirst Network, Je Leefstijl als Medicijn)
  • Foundations (Pharos, Diabetesfonds)
  • Politics (Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport)

The research on this theme is performed with many national and international collaborators, including:

  • Pharmaceutical companies (for example, TNO, Sense Health, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Descin BV Amsterdam, Manometric Holding BV Delft, Cue2Walk International BV Den Haag, Jagaco BV Zoetermeer, Samson IT)
  • Healthcare providers ( for example, Zorg en Zekerheid, Menzis)
  • Healthcare associations (for example, Arts en Leefstijl, Nhg, Foodfirst Network, Je Leefstijl als Medicijn)
  • Foundations (Pharos, Diabetesfonds)
  • Politics (Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport)

LUMC is an important partner or instigator of large national initiatives, such as: