LUMC, FEB and UMCG researchers receive a NWO grant of 4 million for a joint project

E COTIP, a large national consortium headed by Professor Jessica Kiefte from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), has received funding of 4 million from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Professors Jochen Mierau (Faculty of Economics and Business, FEB) and Erik Buskens (FEB and University Medical Center Groningen, UMCG) both participate in the consortium.

The project, fully titled ‘ECOTIP: identifying tipping points of the effects of living environments on the ecosyndemics of lifestyle-related illness’ aims to disentangle the intricate and complex interplay between personal traits and characteristics, living conditions and the wider social and economic context. As individuals and groups in the population that appear socio-economically similar still thrive differently, this signifies the notion that current approaches and models in public health are incorrect and unable to accurately identify potential leverage points for policymakers and health care professionals.

Buskens, Professor of Health Technology Assessment, explains: "The largely linear frameworks presently used in prevention research and policy making simply do not work for those who are most vulnerable. Policies to reduce ecosyndemics (characterized by unfavourable disease interactions resulting from an unhealthy living environment) by and large remain based on lineair reasoning, for example, improve or take away one or two adverse conditions and health will ultimately improve. This approach has time and again failed and should be abandoned. ECOTIP will produce the knowledge base for new and effective policies. The project will shed light on the intricate and complex associations between social, economic, and physical environment and the co-occurrence of several (non-)communicable diseases. Combining available Real World Data with more fine grained and specifically ascertained data on individuals and communities, the project's aim is to identify tipping points above which resilience and resistance are overwhelmed. Big data and AI will help searching for opportunities to avoid crossing or pushing back from tipping points."

Researchers and societal partners from the Northern Netherlands

Buskens and Mierau (Professor of Public Health Economics) are both work package leaders within the consortium and Buskens also serves as a board member. Mierau leads a work package together with Stefan Pichler, associate professor at FEB. Two other researchers from FEB will also work on the project: Oskar Roemeling and Michaela Kesina. Most of the involved researchers from the University of Groningen are also affiliated with the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, where the university’s involvement in the joint project took root. The project bridges the gap between academia and practice, as several societal partners from the Northern Netherlands, such as the municipality, municipal health services, Accare child psychiatry, and health care insurers are also involved.

For more information, please contact Jochen Mierau.