Specialization
Implementation Science, Lifestyle and Prevention Interventions, Process Evaluation, Implementation Strategies & Outcomes, Physical Activity Measurement, Knowledge Translation (Science–Practice–Policy)
Focus of research
Dr. Femke van Nassau is an implementation scientist at the Department of Public and Occupational Health and the Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute (APH) at Amsterdam UMC. Since her PhD on the nationwide scale-up of the DOiT school-based obesity prevention program (2015), she has dedicated her career to narrowing the gap between science, practice, and policy. She leads a research group of PhD candidates, postdoctoral and junior researchers, and has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, two book chapters, and secured over €3 million in competitive research funding.
Van Nassau’s research is structured around three pillars: (1) implementation science, focusing on scaling up interventions, uncovering mechanisms of implementation, matching and testing implementation strategies, measurement of outcomes, and methods for process evaluations; (2) development, implementation, and evaluation of lifestyle interventions in schools, communities, workplaces, football clubs (EuroFIT), and hospitals (LOFIT); and (3) measurement of physical activity, with projects such as INDEEP and national collaborations with RIVM and Statistics Netherlands.
Van Nassau is founder of the Amsterdam Center for Implementation Science (AmsCIS) and co-initiator of the Netherlands Implementation Collaborative (NIC) and the Sport en Bewegen Implementatie Netwerk (SPIN). Beyond her own group, she is widely consulted in an advisory role to support other researchers in strengthening implementation components in their projects.
She is also a dedicated educator and mentor. Van Nassau has supervised more than 60 Bachelor’s and Master’s students and currently supervises 10 PhD candidates. She holds a university teaching qualification (BKO), has developed and coordinated courses in Health Sciences, Human Movement Sciences, and Medical Sciences, and frequently delivers guest lectures and workshops nationally and internationally. Through this combination of research, leadership, and education, she is committed to advancing the field of implementation science and training the next generation of researchers and professionals.