dr. MGJ (Michiel) Balvers

Dr. Michiel Balvers is an assistant professor at the Division of Human Nutrition and Health (HNH) at Wageningen University. His research focuses on nutrient kinetics and nutritional biomarkers in health and disease. The relation between our diet and health effects is complex and determined by processes like nutrient absorption, metabolism and excretion. By studying these processes, the research of Michiel contributes to a better understanding of diet-health relationships, and to improved dietary exposure assessment using biomarkers. A central aspect of his work is the development and application of novel mass-spectrometry (MS) based bio-analytical research methods, which are used to quantify concentrations of nutrients and their metabolites in human blood, urine or cell culture media. The research of dr. Balvers is linked to the research themes ‘Kinetics and metabolism of nutrients’ and ‘Nutrition during metabolic stress’ of the Nutritional Biology chair group.

Michiel works for the Nutritional Biology chair group as well as for the Division’s Laboratory Research Facilities, with the analytical biomarker methods as the linking pin. He is the laboratory coordinator for the Analytical Biomarker lab and responsible for the laboratory’s research infrastructure, method development and project coordination. Michiel is also the radiation protection officer for the Division’s DEXA lab at the Human Research Unit (HRU) of HNH. He is the course coordinator and examiner for 'Pharmacology and Nutrition' (HNH23306) and 'Assessment of Nutritional Status' (HNH33903), and is also teaching in many other courses on nutrient kinetics, nutritional biomarkers and laboratory analysis. Michiel is a member of the steering committee for NutriProfiel, a personalized dietary advice platform that is offered to patients of Gelderse Vallei Hospital in the Nutrition and Healthcare Alliance. In addition, he is member of the advisory committee of the ‘Nederlands Voedingsmiddelen Informatie Portaal’ (NVIP), which is led by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Netherlands Nutrition Centre.  

Michiel obtained his BSc (2003) and MSc (2005) in Biomedical Sciences at Radboud University Nijmegen, where he specialized in Toxicology and Pathobiology. He subsequently completed his PhD thesis (2012) at the Division of Human Nutrition and Health of Wageningen University (promotor: prof. dr. R.F. Witkamp) in collaboration with TNO Zeist, where he investigated the link between n-3 fatty acids, their metabolism into ethanolamine conjugates, and their effects on inflammation. Michiel continued as a postdoc (2012-2014), staff scientist (2015-2020), senior scientist (2020 - 2026) and assistant professor (2026 - present) at the Division of Human Nutrition and Health. In addition, he worked part-time as a senior scientist at the Clinical Chemistry & Haematology Laboratory of Gelderse Vallei Hospital (2013-2020), where he developed and coordinated a service that provides patients personalized dietary advice (NutriProfiel) in the Nutrition and Healthcare Alliance. In addition, he initiated and headed the hospitals' clinical mass spectrometry laboratory.