Through personalised prevention and management

Research Line: Living with Disease / Seed Call: i4PH October 2023

Sex and gender play crucial roles in health outcomes, yet much of the existing research is based on predominantly male populations, leading to inadequate understanding and management of health issues, particularly in diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. These sex-specific differences require tailored interventions and personalised approaches.

Objectives and Route to Impact

The objective is to develop personalised approaches for diabetes prevention and management while addressing inequalities between women and men in cardiovascular health. Specific aims include:

• Identify mechanisms underpinning sex differences in cardiovascular consequences of diabetes.
• Assess and target social, behavioural, and cultural mechanisms exacerbating differences in diabetes burden.
• Provide training opportunities for students.
• Establish a transdisciplinary consortium to tackle diabetes burden inequalities.

Methods

The following methods will be employed:

• Systems biology and personalised nutrition: Utilising advances in systems biology and personalised nutrition to understand and address sex differences in cardiovascular consequences of diabetes.
• Social, behavioural, and cultural mechanisms: Assessing how social, behavioural, and cultural factors increase differences between women and men in diabetes burden and developing personalised interventions to target these mechanisms.
• Training opportunities: Offering training opportunities to students in the research areas covered by the project.
• Transdisciplinary consortium building: Co-creating a transdisciplinary consortium including academics, industry, medical, societal, and patient organizations to tackle inequalities.

Expected Output

The project will lead to new research opportunities and a larger grant application co-created with stakeholders. The output includes:

• Research findings on sex-specific mechanisms in diabetes and cardiovascular health.
• Establishment of a transdisciplinary consortium.
• Opportunities for student training and internships.
• Symposium for knowledge dissemination and networking.

Contribution to Cross-EWUU Collaboration

This consortium brings together experts from all alliance partners from social sciences, nutrition, epidemiology, and systems biology to address the burden of diabetes across different population groups. The interdisciplinary collaboration ensures a comprehensive approach to understanding and tackling sex and gender disparities in health.

Project Team

• Dr. Sanne Peters – UMCU, Julius Center
• Dr. Lydia Afman – WUR, Human Nutrition and Health
• Prof. Natal van Riel – TU/e, Biomedical Engineering
• Dr. Jantien van Berkel – UU, Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Public Health