Prof. A.E. Kunst PhD

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Prof. PhD A.E. Kunst

Position
Full Professor
Main activities
Education, Research
Specialisation
Public Health
Focus of research

Together with Prof dr Karien Stronks, I am leading the research line on Social Epidemiology.

This research line aims to contribute to the scientific evidence that is needed to support policies aimed at improving the health of populations at local, national and international levels. Particular attention is given to the health situation of socio-economically deprived groups, including migrants. These groups face a higher burden of disease, disability and early death. To address health inequalities, we need to know their causes. We aim to study the role of risk factors for specific diseases (such as smoking and overweight) and the underlying “social determinants of health” (such as working and living conditions). We also aim to assess which policies and interventions are effective in improving population health, and especially the health of disadvantage groups. Our line includes HELIUS (multi-ethnic cohort study among three generations), URBAN40 (quasi-experimental study on the health impact of neighbourhood programs), and ABCD (multi-ethnic birth cohort study since 2002). We are leading several EU-funded projects, including SILNE (smoking inequalities: learning from natural experiments) and RODAM (research on obesity and diabetes among African migrants).

Amsterdam UMC Research Institutes
AMC departments
Key publications
  • Ikram Umar Z., Mackenbach Johan P., Harding Seeromanie, Rey Grégoire, Bhopal Raj S., Regidor Enrique, Rosato Michael, Juel Knud, Stronks Karien, Kunst Anton E. All-cause and cause-specific mortality of different migrant populations in Europe European journal of epidemiology 2016;31 (7):655-665 [PubMed]
  • Kuipers Mirte A. G., Monshouwer Karin, van Laar Margriet, Kunst Anton E. Tobacco Control and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Adolescent Smoking in Europe American journal of preventive medicine 2015;49 (5):e64-e72 [PubMed]
  • de Goeij Moniek C. M., Veldhuizen Eleonore M., Buster Marcel C. A., Kunst Anton E. The impact of extended closing times of alcohol outlets on alcohol-related injuries in the nightlife areas of Amsterdam: a controlled before-and-after evaluation Addiction (Abingdon, England) 2015;110 (6):955-964 [PubMed]
  • Ooms Gaby Isabelle, Bosdriesz Jizzo R., Portrait France R. M., Kunst Anton E. Sociodemographic Differences in the Use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems in the European Union Nicotine & tobacco research 2016;18 (5):724-729 [PubMed]
  • Goosen Simone, Stronks Karien, Kunst Anton E. Frequent relocations between asylum-seeker centres are associated with mental distress in asylum-seeking children: a longitudinal medical record study International journal of epidemiology 2014;43 (1):94-104 [PubMed]
All Publications
Curriculum Vitae

II have been trained as demographer at the University of Groningen. Until 2008, I was senior researcher at the Erasmus MC Rotterdam.

Much of my research deals with geographic, socio-economic and ethnic inequalities in health. I have studied inequalities both in mortality, disability, diseases occurrence, and behavior-related factors such as smoking and obesity. In addition to Dutch studies, I have led international studies aimed to assess health inequalities in different European countries. I coordinated several European projects on socioeconomic inequalities in health, with funds of the European Commission.

In addition to these social epidemiological studies, my work covers the field of medical demography. This work includes studies on secular trends in mortality in European countries, and explorations of future trends in life expectancy. I also developed and applied population health simulation models that can be used, for example, to estimate the effect of obesity trends on the future burden of mortality and disability in European populations.

Recent research includes evaluations of "natural policy experiments". For example, we are assessing the health impact of urban improvement programs now carried out in 40 Dutch neighbourhoods. At European levels, we evaluate 'natural policy experiments' in the field of tobacco control in order to assess which policies are effective in reducing smoking prevalence rates.
 

Research programmes

Prof. PhD A.E. Kunst (The impact of public policies on population health and health inequalities)

see above

Postdocs
PhD M.P. Fransen
PhD M.A.G. Kuipers
PhD J.L. Suurmond

PhD Students
T. Kuijpers

Others
MD PhD I. Rupp

Current PhD Candidates