Nutrition and Cancer: Prevention and Treatment

Dr. Ellen Kampman serves as Professor and Chair in Nutrition and Disease at Wageningen University's Division of Human Nutrition and Health, where she has established herself as a prominent researcher in nutritional epidemiology and cancer prevention. After studying Nutrition and Health at Wageningen University, she enhanced her expertise through positions at Harvard School of Public Health and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre. Her research focuses on understanding how lifestyle factors, particularly nutrition, influence cancer prevention and prognosis. As leader of the Chair group Nutrition and Disease, she oversees research spanning cardiometabolic diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, morbid obesity treatment, and cancer. Her work has produced over 250 scientific publications and attracted approximately €15 million in research grants. She holds influential positions on international advisory committees, including the WHO-IARC and World Cancer Research Fund, while serving as senior editor for Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. Her recent work includes groundbreaking research on Lynch Syndrome carriers and cancer prevention awareness, demonstrating how health promotion materials can increase knowledge without causing additional distress. Through her leadership in the MOOC "Nutrition and Cancer" and the Professional Certificate Programme in Nutrition and Disease, she continues to educate healthcare professionals while supervising over 30 PhD students, bridging the gap between research and practical applications in cancer prevention and treatment.

Dr. Fränzel van Duijnhoven serves as an Associate Professor at the Division of Human Nutrition and Health at Wageningen University & Research, bringing extensive expertise in cancer epidemiology and nutritional research. Her academic journey began with dual master's degrees - one in biomedical sciences from Utrecht University (2001) and another in genetic epidemiology from Erasmus Medical Center (2004), followed by a PhD in cancer epidemiology from Utrecht University (2006). After completing her postdoctoral research at the National Institute for Public Health and Environment, where she worked on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study, she has established herself as a leading researcher in colorectal cancer epidemiology. Her current research focuses on understanding how dietary and lifestyle factors influence both sporadic and hereditary colorectal cancer, particularly Lynch syndrome, through an integrative epidemiological approach. She leads the significant COLON study, a multi-centre prospective cohort study investigating how nutrition and lifestyle factors affect colorectal cancer treatment outcomes, recurrence, and survival. Her work has resulted in over 100 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, and she maintains active collaborations with researchers and cohort consortia worldwide. Through her research and teaching in the "Nutrition and Cancer" MOOC and Professional Certificate Programme in Nutrition and Disease, she continues to advance our understanding of the complex relationships between lifestyle factors, genetic predisposition, and cancer outcomes.

Dr. Dieuwertje Kok serves as an Associate Professor at Wageningen University & Research, where she specializes in understanding the complex relationships between nutrition and cancer through mechanistic and clinical research approaches. Her work integrates multiple disciplines, focusing particularly on folate metabolism and colorectal cancer. She leads groundbreaking research through the FOCUS Consortium, investigating how folate and folic acid impact cancer treatment outcomes and survival. Her recent work has revealed important findings about the relationship between folic acid supplementation and chemotherapy toxicity, showing that folic acid supplements during treatment may increase the risk of treatment-related complications. Her research combines epigenetic, transcriptomic, and metagenomic approaches to understand cancer development and progression, with particular emphasis on intestinal health and clinical applications. She plays a key role in the COLON study, a large-scale prospective cohort study examining how nutrition and lifestyle factors influence colorectal cancer outcomes. As course leader for the MOOC "Nutrition and Cancer" and the Professional Certificate Programme in Nutrition and Disease, she translates complex research findings into practical knowledge for healthcare professionals. Her multidisciplinary approach has contributed significantly to understanding how dietary factors, particularly folate and folic acid, influence cancer treatment outcomes and patient survival, leading to important insights for clinical practice and patient care.