Just before the end of 2013 TNO embarked on a new EU project: HEALS. The main objective of this 5-year project is the refinement of an integrated methodology and the application of the corresponding analytical and computational tools for performing studies seeking associations between health outcomes and environmental stressors.
The project fits within the relatively recent concept of ‘’the exposome’’, which is the measure of all the exposures of an individual in a lifetime and how those exposures (internal and external) relate to health. The exposome is complementary to the genome and it is expected that combining these two in epidemiological studies will greatly improve our understanding of the underlying causes of disease. TNO is one of the major partners within the project and contributions will be in the fields of external exposure assessment, sensor technology and systems biology.
More information: anjoeka.pronk@tno.nl
Project website: http://www.heals-eu.eu/
