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prof. dr. Martijn Huisman

Full Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sociology

Full Professor, Research Programmes - Social Sciences, The Social Context of Aging (SoCA)

Personal information

Martijn Huisman is Professor of Epidemiology of Ageing. His Professorship is embedded in the VU Faculty of Social Science, department of Sociology and in the Amsterdam UMC, department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. This reflects his interdisciplinary research, which revolves around themes related to ageing, social determinants of ageing and health inequalities. Before moving to the Vrije Universiteit in 2009, he held research positions at the Groningen University Medical Center and ErasmusMC. Huisman is the current PI of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.

Research

Key research priorities of Huisman include 'resilience of older adults', 'health inequalities in old age', 'ageing and wellbeing', all themes that fit the broader category of human ageing research. His aim is to identify social and societal processes that impact on the daily functioning of older people. The goal is to improve the daily of functioning of older Dutch adults. To this end, Huisman combines insights from sociological theory, such as Fundamental Cause Theory, and epidemiological methods in his research.

Teaching

Huisman is a regular guest lecturer in curricula within the Vrije Universiteit, e.g. in Health Sciences and Medicine. His lectures include topics like health inequalities, class and ageing, and demography of ageing. He has supervised several BSc and MSc theses, involving research with data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.

Grants

Huisman received multiple research grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. Among others, he received a VIDI fellowship grant for his research on resilience in old age. Huisman has been successful in securing funding for maintaining and expanding on a key infrastructure for social science on ageing, the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, through several investment subsidies. He is a partner in several ongoing research consortia that bring together data from multiple longitudinal cohort studies to investigate determinants of functioning in old age.

Ancillary activities

Nederlandse Vereniging voor Gerontologie | DIemen | Bestuurder | 2021-05-01 - present
Stichting IAGG2026 | 's Hertogenbosch | Bestuurder | 2022-12-15 - present
Stichting Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie | Utrecht | Bestuurder | 2025-02-07 - present

Ancillary activities are updated daily