Evelyn Monninkhof

Evelyn Monninkhof studied Biomedical Health Sciences at the Catholic University Nijmegen. In 1998, she obtained her Master’s degree in Epidemiology. In 1999, she started a PhD project at Medisch Spectrum Twente hospital in Enschede and the Department of Epidemiology at the University Medical Center Nijmegen. In February 2004, she completed her thesis on ‘Medical and behavioural interventions in COPD: the COPE study’. Since October 2003, she is working at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary care as a postdoc researcher in the field of cancer epidemiology, obesity and physical activity. Furthermore, she is a teacher in Epidemiology & Evidence Based Medicine and methodological consultant for the department of Radiotherapy.

Interests and Focus

Main research interest of Evelyn Monninkhof is directed towards physical activity, obesity and (breast) cancer risk. She has been coordinating/ involved in several randomised controlled trials studying the effect of exercise on breast cancer risk or outcome after breast cancer diagnosis:

• The SHAPE-1 study examined the effects of a 1-year exercise programme on endogenous hormone levels (associated with breast cancer among 189 sedentary postmenopausal women.
• The SHAPE-2 study examined the effect of weight loss mainly driven by exercise compared to equivalent weight loss due to a calorie restricted diet only on sex hormone levels. In addition, the role of total body fat and intra-abdominal fat was explored.
• The UMBRELLA- Fit trial: a trial investigating the effects of physical activity in breast cancer patients applying a new study design (the cmRCT design)
• The PAM (Physical Activity & Exercise) study. This study investigates the effects of exercise on cognitive function in breast cancer patients with complaints in this area after chemotherapy treatment.

Besides above mentioned trials, Evelyn is also involved in the DENSE trial: a very large trial studying the cost-effectiveness of biennial screening with MRI + mammography compared to mammography alone in women aged 50-75 years with extremely dense breasts. At the radiotherapy department, she is involved in the FLAME trial. This trial invetsigates standard fractionated external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with and without an additional integrated boost to the macroscopically visible tumour in patients with localized prostate cancer on disease-free survival and side effects.