Education:

• PhD degree in environmental epidemiology at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) at Utrecht University obtained in June 2007. The research was performed at the Environmental Epidemiology Group from IRAS at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, with Prof. B. Brunekreef and Dr. G. Hoek. The thesis was titled “Validation of air pollution exposure estimates for long term studies”.

• Masters of Engineering in Nutrition and Health (MSc) at the Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), The Netherlands, with specialisation in epidemiology completed in September 2002. My MSc thesis concerned “A method to express the relevance of gene-environment interactions”. In addition to this degree I enrolled for an occupational traineeship in nutritional epidemiology at The University of Western Australia, Department of Public Health in Perth, where I worked on the reliability of remote dietary recall estimated by a food frequency questionnaire.

• Nutrition and Dietetics Degree ‘cum laude’ at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), Belgium, in 2000. My thesis topic was “The effect of different types of fatty acids on feelings of hunger and satiety and energy intake”.

• Higher Secondary school (sciences-mathematics) at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Lourdes College in Edegem completed in 1996.

Experience:

• Current research projects focus on the Flemish programme for breast cancer screening, a t rial study for colorectal cancer screening and good practices for colorectal , breast and cervical cancer screening within the framework of a Joint Action "European partnership on Action Against Cancer (EPAAC)".

• At the Faculty of Medicine from the University of Antwerp, I am involved in supervising medical students with their MSc thesis on various topics related to cancer screening and students in political and social sciences with their BSc research projects. Further, I have asssisted in various courses on epidemiology and statistics within the University of Antwerp and Hasselt. In March 2008, I was a guest teacher in the Basic Clinical Epidemiology Course at the Putri Gunung Hotel Lembang in collaboration with the Health Research Unit of Padjadjaran University and the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, Indonesia. 

• At the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, I was temporarily employed (January to June 2007) as a scientific researcher at IRAS in the framework of a European project INTARESE (Integrated Assessment of health Risks of Environmental Stressors in Europe) to report on the toxicological issues of environmental exposures.

• I actively contributed to the education program of IRAS. In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 I was responsible for the practical part of the course on Environmental and Occupational Health by Dr. Gert Doekes. In 2003 I was an assistant in the theoretical course on Epidemiology and Biostatistics by Prof. Heederick and Prof Brunekreef.

• I have supervised several last year students at Utrecht University with their MSc thesis. Topics varied from “Traffic-related air pollution and asthmatic symptoms” , “Ambient PM2.5 exposure at schools in the Netherlands related to traffic intensity and composition and the toxicity and inflammatory potential of these PM2.5 particles” to “The exposure to fine and ultra fine particles in cyclists in the Netherlands”. Within the framework of these additional projects I had the chance to get acquainted with other research and institutes like GGD (Municipal Health Service), RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), National Cyclist Federation and Dutch Science Shops.

• As a part of my PhD thesis, I collaborated with Prof. D. Spiegelman from the Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, USA. I had on-site training in measurement error corrections and a second stay with this group led to a joint publication.

• I actively participated in various national and international conferences (AIRNET London 2002, ISEE New York 2004, X2004 Utrecht, ISEE Paris 2006, EUPHA 2008, EUPHA 2009), seminars (Utrecht University, RIVM), courses (GIS, measurement error, Qualitative Research in Health Care).