Ongoing PhD projects of research group SEHPO:
Katrien De Troeyer
My PhD research focusses on understanding how factors related to climate change affect health. To accomplish this, we use data collected from various research projects, including the PIPO (Prospective project on the Influence of Perinatal factors on the Occurrence of asthma and allergies) birth cohort. Our aim is to investigate the short- and long-term effects of climate change related environmental factors (such as ambient temperature, air pollution, etc.) at different critical windows of exposure across the lifespan.
To address this research question we have formulated four specific objectives:
1. To investigate the short-term effects of temperature on symptoms of allergic diseases, such as hay fever.
2. To investigate the effect of exposure to weather conditions (such as temperature, heatwaves, thunderstorms, etc.) during pregnancy on birth outcomes (gestational age and birthweight).
3. To investigate the effects of perinatal exposure to air pollution on the development of asthma and allergies from birth up to early adulthood (approximately 25 years old).
4. To investigate the effects of perinatal exposure to green spaces on wheezing, the development of asthma, and allergies from birth up to early adulthood (approximately 25 years old).
Hilbert Mendoza
Health effects of urban green spaces: Findings from the Global North and South
My PhD project is guided by the following research question: do urban green spaces in the living environment have a beneficial effect on the occurrence of respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental health disorders? Therefore, I aim to investigate the associations of living in/close to urban green spaces with respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental health disorders, both in the global north and south, and in different age groups. The specific objectives of my PhD project are to investigate:
1) the associations of early life residential green spaces with respiratory health, focusing on lung function growth and assessing the potential mediation effect of mitigation of air pollution, and of physical activity.
2) the associations of early life and adult exposure to residential green spaces on cardio-vascular risk factors such as body mass index and blood pressure.
3) the associations between residential green spaces and mental health, focusing on suicide mortality, depression and anxiety, exploring the potential mediation effect of air pollution and physical activity.
Hanna van Roozendaal
The PhD research of Hanna van Roozendaal focuses on alcohol intoxications in Belgian adolescents. Her PhD is part of the Chair Reinier de Graaf - Youth and Alcohol, a collaboration between Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis in Delft, the Netherlands, and the University of Antwerp. The main goals of her research are: (1) to better map the problem of acute alcohol intoxication among adolescents in Belgium and (2) to reduce problematic alcohol use among Belgian adolescents. Therefore, three important objectives were formulated:
1. Mapping alcohol intoxication among adolescents by carrying out a retrospective hospital chart study in Antwerp, amongst others.
2. Setting up an outpatient clinic alcohol & youth, in which adolescents who experienced an alcohol intoxication are offered a follow-up trajectory, by making use of participatory action research.
3. Raising the awareness in society of the health risks of problematic alcohol use for adolescents, for instance by providing sensitization lessons for secondary school students (GGAME-project) and developing and testing a Social Norms Campaign for university students (Alcoholfacts).
The supervisors of her PhD research are Prof. Dr. Guido Van Hal, prof. Dr. De Dooy, Prof. Dr. Van der Lely, Prof. Dr. Verhulst and Prof. Dr. Glazemakers.
Deborah Herrera
Deborah Jael Herrera is an Epidemiologist and PhD fellow coordinating with the team in ORIENT (tOwaRds Informed dEcisions iN colorecTal cancer screening) Prevention Project. This initiative, funded by Kom op Tegen Kanker and supported by Thomas More and Domus Medica, aims to develop and pilot-test a risk-stratified shared decision-making (SDM) tool tailored specifically for vulnerable populations in the context of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Vulnerable population in this project includes those with low literacy, low socio-economic status and migrant backgrounds in Flanders.
Her supervisors are Prof. Dr. Guido Van Hal, Postdoc Wessel van de Veerdonk and Dr. Timon Vandamme.
The project is structured around four work packages, aiming to systematically develop and test the SDM tool while ensuring its adaptation to the needs and preferences of vulnerable populations and general practitioners in Flanders. Work Package (WP) 1 focuses on synthesizing evidence regarding SDM tools for cancer screening and risk prediction models for CRC. WP 2 is dedicated to developing the alpha version of the risk-stratified SDM tool tailored for vulnerable populations considering CRC screening. WP 3 aims to test the beta version of the SDM tool, specifically assessing its impact on the informed choices of vulnerable populations. Finally, WP 4 involves disseminating and communicating results among relevant stakeholders to raise awareness and promote the SDM tool among end-users.
To address the primary goal of this project, the ORIENT prevention project outlines five main objectives:
- Conducting systematic reviews of (a) shared decision-making tools for cancer screening and (b) individualized risk prediction models for colorectal cancer.
- Developing content, layout, and the framework of the risk-stratified SDM tool.
- Developing and integrating the CRC Machine Learning (AI) model into the SDM tool.
- Pilot-testing the effect of the SDM tool on patients' informed choices regarding CRC screening, and
- Exploring patients' and GPs' acceptability and satisfaction with the novel SDM tool, reporting on an implementation strategy.
Allegra Ferrari
The PhD research of Allegra Ferrari focuses on Access to Cancer Prevention services among people from vulnerable or marginalized groups (eg. low-SES, immigrant, LGBTQ+..).
Currently, she is working on the ENTER project (Equity iN breasT cancEr scReening: the necessity of tailored reminders for women with low socioeconomic status’). The primary objective of this project is to improve the participation of low-SES women in the breast cancer screening program (BCSP) in Flanders, by developing a tailored reminder, targeted for the specific needs and barriers of this hard-to reach group. This is a Stichting tegen Kanker funded project and it is being conducted in cooperation with CvKO, Thomas More, Solidaris, Logo, FMDO, AZ Damian, Saamo and Community Health Workers.
The supervisors of her PhD research are Prof. Guido Van Hal, Prof. Geertrui de Bock and Dr. Mathieu Goossens.
Charlotte Theuns
Feasibility Study of Lung Cancer Screening in the Flemish Region, the ZORALCS Study
As a PhD student, I am working on the implementation of lung cancer screening in high-risk (former) smokers in the first line zone ZORA (ZORALCS study). Lung cancer (LC) remains the leading cause of cancer mortality, worldwide and in Belgium. Prevention and early detection are considered the cornerstones to increase the chances of successful treatment and improved outcomes. There is strong scientific evidence that screening for lung cancer through an annual low-dose CT scan (LDCT) in a high-risk population of (ex-)smokers significantly reduces lung cancer mortality and is cost-effective. This implementation study will investigate the participation rate of eligible high risk (ex-)smokers in the First Line Zone (ELZ) South-East Region of Antwerp (ZORA) in a LDCT screening program, combined with smoking cessation. Besides, other indicators of compliance, quality and turn-around-time will be estimated. It will give insights in the feasibility and potential challenges of implementing a LDCT lung cancer screening program in our region. This implementation project is in line with the European Commision Council recommendation of December 2022 to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of LDCT in a high-risk population. Findings from this study will contribute valuable evidence for policymakers and stakeholders. Furthermore, an implementation pilot is a prerequisite for a future high-quality population-based screening program.
Febe Hertveldt
My PhD research focuses on Infant Mental Health. My PhD is part of the Co-Prime project (co-regulation as the foundation of preventive infant mental health care), a collaboration between the University of Antwerp, the University of Ghent & KU Leuven. This is a large-scale project consisting of 4 work packages, each with its own focus. By conducting qualitative interviews and focus groups with parents, professional childcare workers and healthcare providers, my work package aims at identifying the missed opportunities in the preventive care trajectory for young children with RP, and investigate how the mechanisms of an established and clinically successful 3rd line family program can be translated to fill in the gaps within preventive infant mental health care in Flanders. The main goals of my research are:
(1) to explore parents’ health seeking behavior and care trajectory as a response to regulation problems (RP)
(2) to examine the perspective of professional childcare workers on RP
(3) to examine the views of health care providers on implementing a new 0th/1st line co- and self-regulation program
The supervisors of my PhD research are Prof. Dr. Guido Van Hal (UA), Prof. Dr. Edwin Wouters (UA), Dr. Sara De Bruyn (UA) and Prof. Dr. Koen Ponnet (UGhent)
Previous PhD projects of research group SEHPO:
Hayat Bentouhami
Theoretical (object) design in non-interventional causal epidemiological research, a critical appraisal : issues in studies on the causal role of perinatal factors and the occurrence of asthma in children
Background: Results of epidemiologic etiologic studies on the same exposure-outcome relationship are often diverging or even contradicting. Theoretical design has hardly been considered in the discussion on issues with study design and the possible impact on study results. The general aim of the PhD-project was to add to the discussion on the relevance of theoretical design in epidemiologic etiologic research by gaining insight into the following aspects of the application of theoretical design: reporting in literature, use of theoretical design by researchers and perceived knowledgeability of the concept among researchers and to apply the presented concepts for epidemiologic etiologic research in two incidence-density studies.
Methods: Sixty-three articles were critically appraised on the presence of (seven key elements of) theoretical design (chapter 2). Reporting was also compared between articles published before and after the publication of STROBE (2007). In order to gain insight into the use and perceived knowledgeability of theoretical design (chapter 3), an informal survey was sent out to the authors of a selection of the 63 articles reviewed in chapter 2. Two incidence-density studies (chapter 4 and 5) were conducted and the presented concepts in chapter 2 and 3 were applied.
Findings: In none of the articles a theoretical design was reported. Only 13 out of the 63 articles reported all key elements assessed. No marked differences in reporting were observed pre- vs. post-STROBE.
How authors perceived themselves to be knowledgeable with the concepts of theoretical design was diverse. Only one author was able to formulate an occurrence function (part of theoretical design). The vast majority of the authors selected ‘current occurrence as a function of past or current exposure’ as the occurrence function for their study. However, half conducted their study as if the occurrence function is ‘future occurrence as a function of current exposure’.
The incidence-density study in chapter 4 revealed that children exposed to four or more courses of systemic antibiotics during the first year of life had almost twice the incidence-density for asthma occurrence than children exposed to less than four courses This association was much stronger in children reporting lower respiratory tract infections in the first year of life. In chapter 5, an association was observed between the occurrence of a first doctor’s diagnosis of asthma and recent exposure to ETS (1 year prior to diagnosis).
Discussion: Theoretical design is underreported, even though it is the backbone for the design of data collection, the design of data processing and the interpretation of the study results. Epidemiologists should critically discuss the importance of the use and explicit reporting of theoretical design in research practice and training.