Ulrike Gehring

Dr. Ulrike Gehring is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) within the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. Her work focuses on understanding the influence of environmental risk factors on health throughout life, with special emphasis on the long-term effects of ambient air pollution on children's respiratory health. As a co-principal investigator, she leads the Dutch PIAMA (Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy) birth cohort study.

Her areas of expertise include:

• Allergy
• Asthma
• Biostatistics
• Birth Cohorts
• Air Pollution and Health
• Environmental Epidemiology

Dr. Gehring's research is highly interdisciplinary, combining statistics with epidemiology, medical science, and exposure science. She has been actively involved in multiple research projects including PIAMA (ongoing since 1995), CHAMP (2023-2028), CLAIRE (2020-2023), EXPANSE (2020-2025), UBD Policy (2023-2026), and YOUth (2012-ongoing). Her work contributes to Sustainable Development Goals related to good health and well-being, sustainable cities and communities, and climate action.

Her recent publications focus on comparing different air pollution exposure assessment methods, examining air pollution mortality effect estimates, and investigating the relationship between environmental exposures and health outcomes across the life course. Her research has significant policy implications for urban planning, environmental regulation, and public health interventions.

Dr. Gehring has received several prestigious awards including the ASPASIA grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in 2015, the Environmental Health Perspectives Reviewer of the Year in 2013, and the VENI research fellowship from NWO in 2006.

She serves as Chair of the Environment and Health Committee of the European Respiratory Society (since 2024) and is a member of the Review Committee of the Health Effects Institute (since 2022). Dr. Gehring is also an Associate Editor for Environmental Health Perspectives (since 2016) and has been frequently consulted by media outlets on environmental health issues.