Profile photo Virissa Lenters

Virissa Lenters

Assistant Professor

Biography

Virissa Lenters is Assistant Professor in environmental epidemiology at the Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and affiliated as a visiting researcher with the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center Utrecht. She earned her MSc and PhD in Epidemiology from Utrecht University. 

Virissa Lenters investigates how plastic and chemical pollution impact reproductive and child health. She (co-)leads research in national (FLES) and EU-funded projects on the health risks of microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (AURORAGOLIATHFREIA) and has contributed to (inter)national chemical risk assessments. She also investigates disparities in exposure to pollution and factors that promote resilience and susceptibility to environmental insults. Her teaching and societal engagement more broadly address planetary health, public health, and exposome science.

She recently described her research for the Studium Generale public lecture series of Utrecht University: 'How our environment affects our health'.

Recent publications

Investigating Exposure and Hazards of Micro- and Nanoplastics During Pregnancy and Early Life (AURORA Project) Amanda M Durkin, Runyu Zou, Justin M Boucher, Matthew Sp Boyles, Jeske van Boxel, Mariona Bustamante, Emily A Christopher, Payam Dadvand, Hanna M Dusza, Majorie van Duursen, Markus M Forsberg, Karen S Galea, Juliette Legler, Laurens Db Mandemaker, Florian Meirer, Jane Muncke, Tim S Nawrot, Petra Přibylová, Anna R Robuck, Nelly D Saenen, Barbara M Scholz-Böttcher, Kuanliang Shao, Martine Vrijheid, Douglas I Walker, Lisa Zimmermann, Laura M Zoutendijk, Virissa Lenters, Roel Vermeulen
JMIR Research Protocols, 2024, vol. 13
Ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in air pollution exposure Lieke van den Brekel, Virissa Lenters, Joreintje D. Mackenbach, Gerard Hoek, Alfred Wagtendonk, Jeroen Lakerveld, Diederick E. Grobbee, Ilonca Vaartjes
The Lancet Planetary Health, 2024, vol. 8, p.e18-e29
Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and childhood asthma Marianne Eijkemans, Monique Mommers, Margreet W. Harskamp-van Ginkel, Tanja G.M. Vrijkotte, Johnny Ludvigsson, Åshild Faresjö, Anna Bergström, Sandra Ekström, Veit Grote, Berthold Koletzko, Klaus Bønnelykke, Anders Ulrik Eliasen, Peter Bager, Mads Melbye, Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Nour Baïz, Henrique Barros, Ana Cristina Santos, Liesbeth Duijts, Sara M. Mensink-Bout, Claudia Flexeder, Sibylle Koletzko, Tamara Schikowski, Merete Åse Eggesbø, Virissa Lenters, Guillermo Fernández-Tardón, Mikel Subiza-Perez, Judith Garcia-Aymerich, Mónica López-Vicente, Jordi Sunyer, Maties Torrent, Ferran Ballester, Cecily Kelleher, John Mehegan, Andrea von Berg, Gunda Herberth, Marie Standl, Claudia E. Kuehni, Eva S.L. Pedersen, Maria Jansen, Ulrike Gehring, Jolanda M.A. Boer, Graham Devereux, Steve Turner, Ville Peltola, Hanna Lagström, Hazel M. Inskip, Katharine C. Pike, Geertje W. Dalmeijer, Cornelis K.van der Ent, Carel Thijs
BMJ open respiratory research, 2024, vol. 11
Reduced ovarian cholesterol and steroid biosynthesis along with increased inflammation are associated with high DEHP metabolite levels in human ovarian follicular fluids Inge Varik, Runyu Zou, Andrea Bellavia, Kristine Rosenberg, Ylva Sjunnesson, Ida Hallberg, Jan Holte, Virissa Lenters, Majorie Van Duursen, Mikael Pedersen, Terje Svingen, Roel Vermeulen, Andres Salumets, Pauliina Damdimopoulou, Agne Velthut-Meikas
Environment International, 2024, vol. 191
Green space visits among Turkish and South Asian Surinamese women with a high cardiometabolic risk living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the Netherlands Lieke van den Brekel, Helene R Voogdt-Pruis, Lian Wispelweij, Laxmie Jawalapershad, Soerinder Narain, Kerstin Klipstein-Grobusch, Diederick E Grobbee, Virissa Lenters, Joreintje D Mackenbach, Ilonca Vaartjes
International Journal for Equity in Health, 2024, vol. 23
Urbanization gradient, diet, and gut microbiota in Sub-Saharan Africa Linda Simon Paulo, George Msema Bwire, K. Klipstein-Grobusch, Appolinary Kamuhabwa, Gideon Kwesigabo, Pilly Chillo, Folkert W. Asselbergs, Virissa C. Lenters
Frontiers in Microbiomes, 2023, vol. 2