René Pool

Dr. René Pool is an Assistant Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, affiliated with the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences and Biological Psychology department. He also holds appointments in the APH - Health Behaviors & Chronic Diseases and APH - Personalized Medicine groups. His research focuses on metabolomics, systems biology, and multi-omics data integration, leveraging the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) dataset. Pool completed his PhD in Computational Physics & Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam and has a background in medicinal chemistry from VU.

• Key research areas: Metabolomics, epigenetics, genome-wide association studies, and behavioral genetics
• Teaching: 'Introduction to omics', 'Molecular Genetics' for psychology students

His work bridges (bio)chemistry, systems biology, and high-dimensional data analysis to explore biological dysfunction through metabolomics. Recent studies include associations between metabolites and wellbeing, genetic influences on developmental milestones, and epigenetic mechanisms in asthma.

Notable collaborations include twin-based Mendelian randomization studies, metabolomic profiling of migraine, and integrative omics approaches for mental health disorders. Pool contributes to the ACTION Consortium and has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles.