Kickoff event interfaculty theme 'Health and Well-being'
- Date
- Monday 28 September 2026
- Time
- Address
- Leiden
Invitation Health & Wellbeing Kick-off: Working together towards a healthy society
We warmly invite you to the official kick-off of the interfaculty theme Health & Wellbeing on Monday 28 September, from 15:00 to 17:00, at the Gorlaeus Building in Leiden. The event will be followed by drinks until 18:00.
Good health is more than the absence of disease. Our living environment, social relationships, participation in society and resilience also play an important role. Questions around health and wellbeing are therefore interdisciplinary by nature.
Within the interfaculty theme Health & Wellbeing, we bring together expertise from a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology, data science and psychology to governance, history and archaeology. By connecting different perspectives, we aim to ask new questions, stimulate collaboration and contribute to inclusive, equitable and sustainable health.
Following a welcome and introduction by chair Jet Bussemaker, the Health & Wellbeing theme leads will discuss the programme’s three main themes:
- Sustainable and future-proof healthcare with Marieke Adriaanse and Marco Spruit
- Physical and mental health across the life course with Jessica Kiefte-de Jong and Sarah Schrader
- Health inequalities and an inclusive society with Jet Bussemaker and Paul van Trigt
Next, recent Veni laureates will give short pitches showing how interesting, but also how socially relevant, research within Health & Wellbeing can be. Their research offers a glimpse of the breadth of the theme and shows the new insights that can emerge when we approach health and wellbeing from an interdisciplinary perspective.
We will then break into smaller groups to discuss either interdisciplinary education or one of the three main themes of your choice. There will be room to get to know each other, contribute your own expertise and ideas, ask questions and explore opportunities for collaboration with colleagues from other disciplines. During this afternoon, we therefore aim not only to showcase what is already happening in the field of health and wellbeing across Leiden University and the LUMC, but above all to think together about what more is possible. What questions can we answer together? Where do new opportunities lie? And how can we jointly shape the interdisciplinary future of Health & Wellbeing?
Afterwards, we look forward to continuing the conversation over drinks.
Are you already conducting research or teaching in the field of health and wellbeing? Or are you curious about how your expertise could contribute? You are very welcome to join us!
Practical information and registration
Date: Monday 28 September 2026
Time: Doors open at 15:00 | Programme 15:15–17:00 | Drinks until 18:00
Location: Gorlaeus Lecture Hall 57 – C3, Einsteinweg 55, Leiden
Language: Dutch & English
If you'd like to join us, please register here
The theme leads of Health & Wellbeing are Jet Bussemaker (Governance and Global Affairs/Health Campus), and further consisting of Marieke Adriaanse (Sociale Wetenschappen/Health Campus), Jessica Kiefte-de Jong (LUMC/Health Campus), Marco Spruit (Science/Health Campus), Paul van Trigt (Humanities) and Sarah Schrader (Archaeology).
If you have any questions about the theme and/or this event, please contact coordinator Nathanje Dijkstra at N.D.Dijkstra@LUMC.nl.
Do you know colleagues who might be interested in this event? Please feel free to forward this invitation to them.