Regional colloaborations

Vermeulen is the coordinator of the Utrecht Exposome Hub. Within this hub, Utrecht researchers joined forces to systematically analyse the exposome for the first time. Read their story 'Decoding the exposome, the biggest influencer on health' or watch their movie.

National collaborations

As of September 2019, Vermeulen is the coordinator of the NWO Gravitation programme Exposome-NL. This consortium of internationally-renowned scientists from different disciplines and Dutch universities and medical centres, will apply innovative techniques to investigate which factors of the exposome are important for health and how these factors work. The consortium will start with research into the causes of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The techniques and insights from this research will also be applicable to other chronic conditions.

Furthermore, he is one of the initiators of the Data- and Kennishub Gezond Stedelijk Leven. The hub is an independent and open public-private platform initiated by Utrecht University, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Economic Board Utrecht. Together with several other partners, as well as residents, the partners will develop scientific and data-driven concepts and measures: evidence-based products and services that have a positive effect on the health of everyone who lives, works or recreates in an urban environment.

Since September 2020 he is part of the consortium Precision Medicine for more Oxygen (P4O2): a team of researchers, companies and patient representatives that will investigate the long-term effects of the damage caused by COVID-19 and the body's response to it. The project is co-funded by Health-Holland.

International collaborations

Vermeulen also leads the Horizon2020 project EXPANSE (urban exposome) and the Horizon 2020 project AURORA (Risks of microplastics and nanoplastics during pregnancy and early life).

Cohort studies

He is the principal investigator of several large case-control and prospective studies in occupational and the general population: LifeWork, EPIC-NL, Nightingale, AMIGO en PIAMA.