Prof.dr.ir. Marjolein Visser

Secretary:
Els M. Krull
P: +31 20 598 2690
F: +31 20 598 6940
E: e.m.krull@vu.nl
Present  on Monday and Tuesday  and Thursday morning 

Position: 
Marjolein Visser is professor of Healthy Aging at the Institute of Health Sciences, VU University Amsterdam and at the EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.


Education/academic training (starting from masters)

Marjolein Visser is trained as a nutritionist and epidemiologist and received her PhD from Wageningen University, the Netherlands in 1995. During her PhD work she was a research scholar at the Obesity Research Center at S. Lukes’s/Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, USA. In 1996-98 she was a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA after which she completed a second post-doctoral fellowship at the EMGO Institute, VU Medical center, Amsterdam. As a fellow of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences she continued her research on sarcopenia at this institute. 


Research Interests

Her research interests include (lifestyle) determinants and consequences of age-related changes in body composition. Important research areas are sarcopenia, obesity, and malnutrition in old age. She is involved in (inter)national aging studies, including the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam and the Health, Aging and Body Composition study, and a body composition consultant for other aging studies. She has authored over 125 scientific publications and serves on the editorial boards of several international scientific journals. 


Professional employment history (mentioning of awards and Int. collaborations)

Since 2003 she also holds a tenured position at the Institute of Health Sciences of the VU University Amsterdam where she became head of the department of Nutrition and Health in 2005. She currently is professor of Healthy Aging at both the Institute of Health Sciences and the EMGO Institute. She is responsible for the MSc program Nutrition and Health within the Health Sciences program and is a teacher in courses on nutrition, gerontology and epidemiology. Since 2008 she is a member of the management team of the Institute of Health Sciences and responsible for scientific research.


5 Key publications as 1st author
1. Visser M. Towards a definitionof sarcopenia--results from epidemiologic studies. J Nutr Health Aging. 2009; 13:713-6.
2. Visser M, Deeg DJH, Puts MTE, Seidell JC, Lips P. Low serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in older persons and the risk of nursing home admission. Am J Clin Nutr 2006;84:616-22.
3. Visser M, Kritchevsky SB, Newman A, Goodpaster BH, Tylavsky FA, Nevitt MC, Harris TB. Lower serum albumin concentration and change in muscle mass: the Health, Aging and Body Composition. Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;82:531-7
4. Visser M, Simonsick EM, Rubin S, Newman AB, Kritchevsky SB, Harris TB. Activity type and intensity and risk of mobility limitation: the mediating role of muscle parameters. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005;53:762-70.


5 publications as co-author

1. Cesari M,  Kritchevsky SB, Newman AB, Simonsick EM, Harris TB, Penninx BW, Brach JS, Tylavsky FA, Satterfield S, Bauer DC, Rubin SM, Visser M, Pahor M. Added value of physical performance measures in the predicting adverse health-related events. Results from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009; 57: 251-9
2. Verweij LM, van Schoor NM, Deeg DJ, Dekker J, Visser M. Physical activity and incident clinical knee osteoarthritis in older adults. Arthritis Rheum 2009; 61 : 152-7
3. Peterson MJ, Guiliani C, Morey MC, Pieper CF, Evenson KR, Mercer V, Cohen HJ, Visser M, Brach JS, Kritchevsky SB, Goodpaster BH, Rubin S, Satterfield S, Newman AB, Simonsick EM, Physical Activity as a Preventative factor for Frailty: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.  J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2009; 64A: 61-68   (Epub 2009 Jan 20)
4. Leistra E, Neelemaat F, Evers AM, van Zandvoort MH, Weijs PJ, van Bokhorst-de  van der Schueren MA, Visser M, Kruizenga HM. Prevalence of undernutrition in  Dutch hospital outpatients. Eur J Intern Med.  2009; 20: 509-13
5. van Halm VP, Peters MJ, Voskuyl AE, Boers M, Lems WF, Visser M, Stehouwer CD, Spijkerman AM, Dekker JM, Nijpels G, Heine RJ, Bouter LM, Smulders YM, Dijkman BA, Nurmohamed MT. Rheumatoid arthritis versus diabetes as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease: a cross-sectional study, the CARRE Investigation. Ann Rheum Dis. 2009 68:1395-400