New HSO member: Susanne Cremers

Hi there, my name is Susanne Cremers. I have met some of you during an introduction teams meeting, which felt despite the online setting like a very warm welcome, so thanks for that to all of you!

I joined WUR last week as a researcher, where I work on the empowerment of pregnant women with low SES to improve their nutritional intake in order to improve the health of mother and child. The project team already has developed an integral strategy that aims to empower midwives and dietitians to integrate nutrition in their regular care of pregnant women. I will work out the details to implement and evaluate the strategy, starting with a pilot.

For almost a decade, I have been working on empowerment of (pregnant) women and mums, by providing outdoor workouts, which gives me a strong connection with this group. Exercising makes them physically and emotionally stronger. While being outside with fresh air, working out together with other women in the same situation which gives them the chance to talk about their daily challenges with motherhood and work. Besides offering the training, I facilitate the discussion of important topics of pregnancy and motherhood. This sporty hour together in a trusted environment empowers women to face the struggles they all inevitably face to some extent and I feel like I am doing something truly valuable for those moms (to be).

My educational background is a MSc in Business Administration, which I obtained at the University of Postdam, Germany and the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. When I met my husband Evert-Jan, I moved to the Netherlands and started working in the pharmaceutical industry. When I became a mother, I decided to continue my education with the MSc Nutrition & Health at WUR. I always had been very interested in the nutrition section in sports and cooking magazines and becoming a mother clearly provoked my wish to distinguish trustworthy information from nutrition hypes. So I absolutely recognize from personal experience one of our starting points in the empowerment project, that pregnancy is a time where women are more interested in a healthy lifestyle and willing to make changes!

Prior to joining WUR in my current role, I have worked as a medical advisor in the field of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in a pharmaceutical company. Though I really enjoyed the work environment there, my interest evolved to having a more direct impact on helping people to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Therefore I started my professional training to become an advanced lifestyle coach. The current pandemic makes it even more clear how important a healthy lifestyle is to public and individual health. I am very pleased that I can dedicate myself to contributing on a scientific and practical level to women’s health.

Next to my regular job, I fulfill with great pleasure the temporarily teachers role for my daughters Anna and Sophie (I thank god every day that they are still in primary school, so my personal deficits in higher mathematics are not revealed to them). In my spare time, my greatest joy is to spend active time with my family. As such, the pandemic offers a lot of quality time for us. Since travelling isn’t an option at the moment, we love hiking in the beautiful woods in the regions around Utrecht and have rediscovered mountain biking. I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you in the next weeks!