Hadewijch Vandenheede

I completed my Bachelor of Social Work in 2005, followed by a Bachelor's degree in Sociology in 2007. In 2008, I earned my Master's degree in Sociology and, shortly after, obtained my Ph.D. in Social Sciences in 2011. Since October 2018, I've been honored to serve as an Associate Professor at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Prior to this role, I was an Assistant Professor at the same institution from 2013 to 2018. Additionally, I spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher at the University College London from 2012 to 2013.

My research interests primarily revolve around the intersections of migrant, gender, and socioeconomic health inequalities. My Ph.D. focused on migrant disparities in diabetes morbidity and mortality, with a special emphasis on how these interacted with gender and socioeconomic status.

In recent years, I've been involved in various projects, including those examining social inequalities in cancer incidence, survival, and mortality, health and mortality in Central and Eastern Europe, and the Former Soviet Union. I've also worked on projects concerning migrant inequalities in health and mortality among young adults and adolescents, as well as healthy aging from a European comparative perspective. These projects often involve a multidisciplinary approach, drawing from demography, epidemiology, and sociology.
I've had the privilege of participating in the European MEHO (Migrant Ethnic Health Observatory) project and served as the main supervisor for Belgium in the EURO-HEALTHY (Shaping European policies to promote health equity) Horizon 2020 project. I've also co-supervised a Fulbright Scholar program focusing on the adoption of new lifestyles among newly arrived immigrant youths and the implications for their health, using qualitative methods.

Currently, I'm actively engaged in projects examining migrant differences in cancer incidence, survival, and mortality, as well as projects related to environmental epidemiology and COVID mortality. Most recently, I've taken the lead for VUB in a European Joint Research Programme aimed at improving healthcare implementation and the daily lives of people living with rare diseases. 

Teaching has always been a significant part of my academic journey. Since the beginning of my Ph.D., I've been teaching statistics courses to social science students, and I continue to do so today. In recent years, I've shifted my focus to more advanced methods, such as survival and multilevel analysis.

Furthermore, I've taken on important educational roles, serving as the secretary of the educational board of Sociology from 2014 to 2018 and subsequently becoming the director of this educational board from 2018. This role involves crafting a strategic plan for the Bachelor and Master programs in sociology and guiding the educational program into the future.

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