Successfully uniting the ongoing longitudinal cohort studies in the Amsterdam region into a strong and visible Amsterdam Cohort Hub, will create an unsurpassed resource for data driven innovations in the Public Health arena.
Eco de Geus works at the department of Biological Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam that maintains the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR). He is an active researcher in the field of genetic epidemiology of mental health and cardiovascular disease, and how these are impacted by stress and exercise behaviour. He has published over 650 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. De Geus is a Co-PI of the 10-year NWO Gravitation project Stress in Action, an executive board member of the Society for Ambulatory Assessment, and has developed an ambulatory monitoring system for the measurement of stress in daily-life (www.vu-ams.nl ).
In terms of research leadership, de Geus was vice-dean and director of research of the Faculty of Psychology and Education (>500 research staff) at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 2009-2012, responsible for all matters related to research, as well as its human resources, facilities and budget. Starting 2017, de Geus was head of the department of Biological Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam until January 2025. At the Amsterdam UMC, he directed the Institute for Health and Care research (EMGO+) from 2012-2017. EMGO+ was a multidisciplinary research institute on prevention and health care that united over 700 scientists in e.g. the field of behavioural and health sciences, epidemiology, primary care, youth health care, internal medicine, psychiatry, and elderly medicine. In 2017, de Geus also helped the EMGO+ institute evolve into the current Amsterdam Public Health (APH) institute. He further chaired the Executive Board VUmc Research BV (Ltd) from 2017 to 2025 which had the responsibility for all research contracts of the VUmc with private partners.
His interest in, and collaboration with, the ACH cohorts is longstanding and rooted in his experience with the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR). The NTR constitutes a large research infrastructure (>150,000 participants) including longitudinal surveys, experimental data and biomaterials obtained in the past 30 years in around 25% of all twins and multiples in the Netherlands and their family members. The NTR is slated to be part of the 2026-2027 Cohort Enrichment phase of the Stress in Action project, together with other ACH cohorts.
In his new role, Eco de Geus will form the ACH management team together with Emiel Hoogendijk (manager) and Geertje Marije Takkenberg (communication officer).
About Amsterdam Cohort Hub
Amsterdam Cohort Hub was established to strengthen the infrastructure for longitudinal cohort studies in the Amsterdam region and to increase their impact on public and societal health. Founded in September 2023, the Hub is supported by “Sector Funds” provided by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The Amsterdam Cohort Hub aims to achieve its goals by connecting cohort studies, sharing resources, enhancing visibility, improving support for cohort operations, and enabling formal recognition and structural funding.