Health Effects

Course goals

At the end of the course, students have a profound understanding of: 
-    the concept of health in humans, animals and ecosystems
-    how biotic and abiotic environmental factors influence the health of humans, animals and complex ecosystems
-    common methods of health effect assessments in toxicology and epidemiology
-    mechanisms of health effects at the cellular / molecular level and how this relates to adverse outcomes at the organism and population level
-    how to perform and interpret basic data analysis methods

Content

Period (from - till): 5 October 2026 - 13 October 2026 (BMS_P1_A)

Course description:
This course will describe the health effects related to the environment. How can disturbances in the ecosystem (deforestation, melting of the polar icecaps, etc.) influence our body, down to molecular levels? Different types of populations will be described, e.g. wildlife and ecosystems, general public and workers as specific population. The topics that will be further discussed are climate change, antimicrobial resistance, multi-stressors, emerging chemical- and biological agents in air, water and soil, green space and blue space, occupational health. A variety of environmental stressors will be covered to illustrate methodological issues and to obtain knowledge on major environmental factors. Multiple assessment methods will be discussed, e.g. modelling, ecotoxicology, health monitoring. Moreover, the importance and different methods of monitoring and (disease) surveillance in human and animal populations and ecosystems will also be discussed. Adverse outcome pathways in toxicological and immunological mechanisms of health effects will be introduced.

Course coordinator:
Egil Fischer

Contact details: education.iras@uu.nl or e.a.j.fischer@uu.nl

Registration:
Registration only open to Health and Environment students who will automatically be enrolled and MSc Epidemiology students with the specialisation Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology who can register by contacting MSc.HENV@uu.nl.

Mandatory for students in Master’s programme:
Yes

Optional for students in other GSLS Master’s programme:
Only for MSc Epidemiology students with the specialisation Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology