Eline van der Valk

Eline van der Valk is a Researcher in the Department of Internal Medicine at Erasmus MC. Her work focuses on glucocorticoid exposure, stress physiology, and their impacts on metabolic and cardiovascular health, particularly in obesity. She completed her doctoral thesis titled "Stress and immunity: New perspectives in obesity" in 2024, contributing to understanding inflammatory and immune mechanisms linked to obesity. Key research areas include hair cortisol/cortisone biomarkers, cardiometabolic risk assessment, and lifestyle interventions.

Selected research highlights include:

• Associations between long-term glucocorticoid levels and cardiovascular disease risk in the Lifelines cohort
• Role of hair cortisone in hedonic eating behaviors among obese patients
• Impact of stress on appetite-regulating hormones in obesity

Her interdisciplinary approach bridges endocrinology, immunology, and epidemiology, with 22 peer-reviewed publications since 2023. Ongoing research emphasizes translational strategies for CVD prevention through glucocorticoid biomarker applications.