My overall research interest is to study early-life exposures to xenobiotic agents, specific dietary compounds and/or other environmental factors, and how these can influence a persons’ sensitivity and genome stability, plus predispose to pathological diseases later in life. My experience in the field of genetic toxicology and molecular epidemiology (>20 years) mainly involves the analysis of biomarkers such as DNA damage, DNA repair and DNA methylation, and linking to exposures and/or disease outcomes.

During my PhD, I developed a comet-based assay to study DNA repair. As postdoc at Newcastle University, I optimized this technique to measure DNA repair in tissues and acquire expertise in epigenetic research. During 7 years as postdoc at VITO and Hasselt University, I focused on the use of non-invasive biomatrices in biomonitoring studies and the identification of (epigenetic) biomarkers to assess the risk to develop complex diseases. In parallel, through collaborations, I examined the role of genome instability in obesity. Since 2020, I returned to Maastricht University as lecturer. Currently as assistant professor, I am establishing my research into the role of DNA repair and mitochondrial function in complex diseases (such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and cancer), as well as looking at the health effects of plant-based diet.