Erik Buskens new acting scientific director of Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health

Groningen, September 19, 2024 - On the recommendation of the Executive Board of the University of Groningen (RUG), Erik Buskens is the new scientific director of the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health (Aletta), effective immediately. Buskens, Professor of Population Health Management UMCG, Faculty of Economics and Business (RUG) and AJSPH, succeeds Brigit Toebes. Brigit Toebes will fully focus on her position as professor of health law in an international perspective at the Faculty of Law at the RUG.

Aletta is very pleased with the arrival of Buskens and he is following in the footsteps of Mierau and Toebes. General director Frederic van Kleef: “We are very pleased with the appointment of Erik Buskens, his interdisciplinary view of health is of a rare quality and therefore fits in perfectly with our activities in the field of research and education.”

About Erik Buskens

Buskens will also remain affiliated with the UMCG, until recently as Professor of Health Technology Assessment, but recently as Professor of Population Health Management, which ties in even better with Aletta's mission and vision. Buskens is one of the founders of Healthy Ageing in the Northern Netherlands. He has been working at the UMCG since 2006 and is increasingly focusing on influencing and steering health determinants through care and health systems, which also include influences from society and the environment.

Buskens is no stranger to Aletta. In recent years, he has been of great significance to Aletta Education in the role of education lead. Buskens also chairs the curriculum board of the Hanze Master Healthy Ageing Professional. The aim was and remains transition, transdisciplinary collaboration, innovation and lifelong learning focused on public health issues.

Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health

Aletta – a partnership between the RUG, the UMCG, the Hanze and NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences – is the connector in the field of public health. Aletta creates encounters, builds bridges between researchers, lecturers, residents, professionals inside and outside healthcare, and policymakers in the Northern Netherlands region and across national borders. In the encounter, Aletta contributes to knowledge exchange and equal interaction.

Aletta is also a pioneer. In order to tackle regional challenges, fixed frameworks are broken through. Aletta gives impact to innovative ideas and initiatives and stimulates innovative education. With an eye for the living environment and from an open and inclusive attitude, we build a future in which we live together healthier.

Thinking to do – Together for more healthy years!