As of January 2026, APH researcher Natasja van Schoor has been appointed program leader of Aging & Later Life (A&LL). She succeeds Janet MacNeil Vroomen and will co-lead the program together with Hein van Hout.
Natasja has a background in Health Sciences and Epidemiology and is appointed as an associate professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Data Science. She has a strong background in ageing research. Her research initially focused on the prevention of physical decline, falls, and fractures in older adults. Since 2020, she has extended her research line to healthy ageing, studying the healthy ageing model of the World Health Organization, which states that the intrinsic capacity of older adults and the environment they live in both contribute to the functional ability and wellbeing of older adults. Following this research line, she aims to contribute to the prevention of loss of functioning in older adults, thereby supporting their independence and wellbeing.
Natasja is actively involved in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), where she serves as the chair of the physical functioning group. In addition, she has performed and supervised several randomized controlled trials aimed at fall and fracture prevention, such as the ongoing ADFICE_IT trial.
Natasja is involved in several (inter)national multi-cohort projects, such as the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and the FRAX consortium. She is actively involved in the Amsterdam Cohort Hub (ACH) and the Netherlands Cohort Consortium (NCC), as she believes that initiatives like ACH and NCC are vital for fostering collaboration. One of the aims of the NCC is to study healthy ageing, which aligns with the focus of the A&LL program.
In collaboration with co-program leader Hein van Hout and the senior and junior program council, Natasja aims to help bring together researchers from the aging field, both from the A&LL program and external researchers and stakeholders, in order to foster new connections and collaborations. She also aims to contribute to the visibility of the A&LL program and the A&LL panel of older adults.