dr. FJB (Fränzel) van Duijnhoven

dr. FJB (Fränzel) van Duijnhoven

Associate Professor Nutrition, genes and colorectal cancer

Fränzel van Duijnhoven obtained her Master of Science degree in biomedical sciences at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, in 2001, and her Master of Science degree in genetic epidemiology at Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 2004.

During her PhD-project at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, she studied postmenopausal hormone therapy in combination with genetic variants in relation to mammographic density, an intermediate endpoint in breast carcinogenesis. She received her PhD degree in cancer epidemiology at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, in 2006.

From 2007 to 2010, she worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands, where she was mainly involved in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. In the international EPIC study, she investigated dietary, lifestyle and genetic factors in association with the risk of colorectal and pancreatic cancer.

Currently, she works as an Associate Professor at the Division of Human Nutrition and Health at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. Her research is focused on the role of dietary and lifestyle factors in the development and progression of sporadic as well as hereditary colorectal cancer (i.e. Lynch syndrome). Her research is particularly directed at investigating underlying mechanisms by evaluating associations of lifestyle factors in specific (genetic) subgroups and by evaluating gene-lifestyle interactions in an integrative epidemiological setting. She does this by applying several data science techniques. She collaborates with several investigators and cohort consortia around the world and has published over 100 articles in international peer-reviewed journals.