dr. France Rose Marie Portrait

From January 2006 to December 2013, she was involved in research on the long-term effects of early-life conditions. Using data from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN) and flexible duration models, she examined causal links between early-life circumstances and cause-specific mortality (van den Berg, Lindeboom, Portrait, 2006; Yeung et al., 2014). She also investigated whether exposure to the 1846–47 Dutch Potato Famine affected longevity at older ages (van den Berg et al., 2007), and continues this line of research using sibling data to control for family effects. In addition, she contributed to health economics research, including studies on the monetary valuation of patients’ time and practice variation in the cure and care sectors. She was awarded an NWO grant for the interdisciplinary project “Giants of the modern era: A new history of heights and health in the Netherlands, 1811–1940.”

In recent years, her research has focused on health economics and the economics of aging, particularly long-term care and the socio-economic impact of healthy aging. Her work has evolved toward themes such as ageing-in-place, dementia, and policy impacts on vulnerable groups. She works one day per week with the Care Needs Assessment Center (in Dutch: CIZ), where she conducts research on (equitable) access to long-term care, and the consequence of the introduction of the Dutch Long-term Care Act in 2015. She has also examined the effects of decentralization in the Dutch long-term care system and currently studies the role of cross-domain collaboration. Her most recent projects investigate the causal relationship between early-life labour participation and cognitive aging among women, as well as volunteers’ preferences for providing informal care. Her research aims to support sustainable, inclusive, and person-centered care systems.

She teaches at both Bachelor’s and Master’s level within the field of health economics, covering topics such as healthcare systems, policy, data analysis, and quantitative research methods. Her teaching combines theoretical insights with empirical applications, with a strong focus on the use of data and policy-relevant analysis. She contributes to core courses in the curriculum as well as to minor programmes, and is involved in developing new teaching activities, including courses on data analysis in healthcare and programming for economists.

She has extensive experience supervising Bachelor’s and Master’s students, guiding theses and traineeships, and supporting students in applying quantitative methods to real-world healthcare issues. Her teaching approach emphasizes critical thinking, analytical skills, and the connection between academic research and policy practice.

In addition, she is a member of the assessment committee of the Faculty of Science (BETA), contributing to the quality assurance of examinations as part of the examination board.

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