Prof. Dr. Marloes Eeftens, MSc

Research interests and activities at Swiss TPH

• Measuring and modelling the spatial and temporal distribution of environmental pollutants: airborne pollen, air pollutants and electromagnetic radiation
  
• Investigating effects of environmental exposures on human respiratory, cardiovascular and cognitive health
• Programming, statistics and data visualization
• Use of new epidemiological data collection tools: personal measurement devices, IoT sensors, wearables, mobile phone apps

Professional experiences

• 01/2021-present: Research Group Leader "Sensoring and Environmental Epidemiology", Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
• 08/2020-present: Assistant Professor, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
• 12/2019-12/2020: Scientific Project Leader, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
• 01/2019-11/2019: Senior Scientific Collaborator, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
• 03/2013-12/2018: Postdoctoral Scientific Collaborator, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
• 09/2008-02-2013: PhD student, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Education

• PhD in Toxicology and Environmental Health, Institute of Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (PhD thesis: issuu.com/gildeprintdrukkerijen/docs/proefschrift_eeftens)
• MSc in Toxicology and Environmental Health, Institute of Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
• BSc in Environmental Sciences: quality of water soil and air, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
• Propedeuse (1st year degree) in Chemistry, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Grants

• 08/2020-07/2025: Beyond seasonal suffering: Effects of Pollen on Cardiorespiratory Health and Allergies (EPoCHAL). Principal Investigator. Funded by: European Research Council, Starting Grant (ERC-StG)
• 11/2019-10/2023: Pollen and Cardiorespiratory Health and Allergic Symptoms (POCHAS), Principal Investigator. Funded by: Ambizione, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland.
• 04/2019-04/2022: Development of a near-field measurement approach and randomized Intervention Study on COncern and well-being (DISCO), Co-applicant. Funded by: Forschungsstiftung Strom und Mobilkommunikation (FSM), Switzerland.
• 01/2019-12/2019: Pollen Exposure and Respiratory, Cardiovascular And natural Mortality (PERCAMO), Principal Investigator. Funded by: Swiss National Cohort, Switzerland.
• 01/2018-12/2021: Study Panel on Upcoming Technologies to measure Non-Ionizing radiation and Cognition (SPUTNIC), Principal Investigator. Funded by: Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire (ANSES), France, call radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation and health.
• 01/2016-03/2017: Characterizing vertical air pollution gradients in the urban environment - Bringing the (conveniently) flat world of air pollution studies closer to reality (VEGAS), Principal Investigator. University of Basel, Switzerland, Research fund for excellent Young Researchers.
• 09/2016-12/2017: Supporting Teaching Experience for Postdocs (STEP), Principal Investigator. Funded by: Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), Switzerland, call “Workshops/Projects 2016; Foster Identity through Collaborations”.
• 08/2015-01/2016: Stay on Track - chance equality grant. University of Basel, Switzerland.

Committees and memberships

• 05/2020-present: Member of Swiss Young Academy (https://swissyoungacademy.ch/)
• 05/2020-present: Faculty member of the Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+)
• 01/2024-present: Beratende Expertengruppe nicht-ionisierende Strahlung (BERENIS)
• 2019-present: Member of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)

Luyten A, Bürgler A, Glick S, Kwiatkowski M, Gehrig R, Beigi M, Hartmann K, Eeftens M. Ambient pollen exposure and pollen allergy symptom severity in the EPOCHAL study. Allergy. 2024;79(7):1908-1920. DOI: 10.1111/all.16130

Valipour Shokouhi B, de Hoogh K, Gehrig R, Eeftens M. Estimation of historical daily airborne pollen concentrations across Switzerland using a spatio temporal random forest model. Sci Total Environ. 2024;906:167286. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167286

Eeftens M, Pujol S, Klaiber A, Chopard G, Riss A, Smayra F, Flückiger B, Gehin T, Diallo K, Wiart J, Mazloum T, Mauny F, Röösli M. The association between real-life markers of phone use and cognitive performance, health-related quality of life and sleep. Environ Res. 2023;231(Pt 1):116011. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116011

Eeftens M, Shen C, Sönksen J, Schmutz C, van Wel L, Liorni I, Vermeulen R, Cardis E, Wiart J, Toledano M, Röösli M. Modelling of daily radiofrequency electromagnetic field dose for a prospective adolescent cohort. Environ Int. 2023;172:107737. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107737

Gisler A, Eeftens M, de Hoogh K, Vienneau D, Salem Y, Yammine S, Jakob J, Gorlanova O, Decrue F, Gehrig R, Frey U, Latzin P, Fuchs O, Usemann J, BILD Study Group. Pollen exposure is associated with risk of respiratory symptoms during the first year of life. Allergy. 2022;77(12):3606-3616. DOI: 10.1111/all.15284

Bürgler A, Glick S, Hartmann K, Eeftens M. Rationale and design of a panel study investigating six health effects of airborne pollen: the EPOCHAL study. Front Public Health. 2021;9:689248. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.689248

Glick S, Gehrig R, Eeftens M. Multi-decade changes in pollen season onset, duration, and intensity: a concern for public health?. Sci Total Environ. 2021;781:146382. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146382

Eeftens M, Odabasi D, Flückiger B, Davey M, Ineichen A, Feigenwinter C, Tsai M.Y. Modelling the vertical gradient of nitrogen dioxide in an urban area. Sci Total Environ. 2019;650(Pt 1):452-458. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.039

Eeftens M, Struchen B, Birks L.E, Cardis E, Estarlich M, Fernandez M.F, Gajsek P, Gallastegi M, Huss A, Kheifets L, Meder I.K, Olsen J, Torrent M, Trcek T, Valic B, Vermeulen R, Vrijheid M, van Wel L, Guxens M, Röösli M. Personal exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields in Europe: is there a generation gap?. Environ Int. 2018;121(Pt 1):216-226. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.09.002

Eeftens M, Struchen B, Roser K, Zahner M, Fröhlich J, Röösli M. Dealing with crosstalk in electromagnetic field measurements of portable devices. Bioelectromagnetics. 2018;39(7):529-538. DOI: 10.1002/bem.22142

Eeftens M, Meier R, Schindler C, Aguilera I, Phuleria H, Ineichen A, Davey M, Ducret-Stich R, Keidel D, Probst-Hensch N, Künzli N, Tsai M.Y. Development of land use regression models for nitrogen dioxide, ultrafine particles, lung deposited surface area, and four other markers of particulate matter pollution in the Swiss SAPALDIA regions. Environ Health. 2016;15:53. DOI: 10.1186/s12940-016-0137-9

Eeftens M, Phuleria H, Meier R, Aguilera I, Corradi E, Davey M, Ducret-Stich R, Fierz M, Gehrig R, Ineichen A, Keidel D, Probst-Hensch N, Ragettli M, Schindler C, Künzli N, Tsai M.Y. Spatial and temporal variability of ultrafine particles, NO2, PM2.5, PM2.5 absorbance, PM10 and PMcoarse in Swiss study areas. Atmos Environ. 2015;111:60-70. DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.03.031

Eeftens M, Hoek G, Gruzieva O, Molter A, Agius R, Beelen R, Brunekreef B, Custovic A, Cyrys J, Fuertes E, Heinrich J, Hoffmann B, de Hoogh K, Jedynska A, Keuken M, Klumper C, Kooter I, Kramer U, Korek M, Koppelman G.H, Kuhlbusch T.A, Simpson A, Smit H.A, Tsai M.Y, Wang M, Wolf K, Pershagen G, Gehring U. Elemental composition of particulate matter and the association with lung function. Epidemiology. 2014;25(5):648-657. DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000136