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

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
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
Perinatal exposure to potential endocrine disrupting chemicals and autism spectrum disorder Anteneh Assefa Desalegn, Wietske van der Ent, Virissa Lenters, Nina Iszatt, Hein Stigum, Jan Ludvig Lyche, Vidar Berg, Karolina J. Kirstein-Smardzewska, Camila Vicencio Esguerra, Merete Eggesbø
Environment International, 2023, vol. 181
Impact of occupational pesticide exposure on the human gut microbiome Milla F.Brandao Gois, Asier Fernández-Pato, Anke Huss, Ranko Gacesa, Cisca Wijmenga, Rinse K. Weersma, Jingyuan Fu, Roel C.H. Vermeulen, Alexandra Zhernakova, Virissa C. Lenters, Alexander Kurilshikov
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2023, vol. 14, p.1223120
Prenatal Exposure to Metabolism-Disrupting Chemicals, Cord Blood Transcriptome Perturbations, and Birth Weight in a Belgian Birth Cohort Anran Cai, Lützen Portengen, Gökhan Ertaylan, Juliette Legler, Roel Vermeulen, Virissa Lenters, Sylvie Remy
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2023, vol. 24