Young Academy Groningen welcomes new member Esther Metting

In March 2021, the Young Academy Groningen welcomed seven new members, one of them assistant professor Esther Metting of the Faculty of Economics and Business.

The Young Academy Groningen (YAG) is a group of talented, enthusiastic and ambitious early-career researchers from various disciplines at the University of Groningen (UG) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). Members share a passion for science and scholarship and its broader impacts on academia and society.

Esther Mettig is excited about her appointment: “I look forward to working with other YAG researchers. My background is in psychology and epidemiology and I work as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business. My main research focus is the exciting field of health and technology (eHealth). Unfortunately, not everyone can benefit from the benefits of eHealth due to poor health and digital literacy. This is a problem because these vulnerable groups have a poorer health status on average and would benefit most from eHealth programmes. In my daily work, I use knowledge from epidemiology, behavioural and implementation sciences to improve the uptake of eHealth schemes. The overall aim of my research is to make eHealth accessible for everyone.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been involved in several COVID-19 projects including the evaluation of the CoronaMelder for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the evaluation of the COVID-19 rapid-testing centre for teaching-related activities in Groningen.

The large amount of fake news and conspiracy messages have taught me that there is a need for objective and understandable scientific information among the public. Together with other YAG members, I would like to reduce the gap between scientists and the public by presenting research in an understandable way.”

For more information, please contact Esther Metting.