Huijts, T

Tim Huijts is a Full Professor of Positive Health at Work at the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) at Maastricht University (starting in September 2022), partly co-funded (20%) by Sardes/CAOP.

In his research, Tim Huijts combines three research lines, focusing on: (1) monitoring, explaining and diminishing social inequalities in health; (2) the ability of the concept of Positive Health to help people fulfil their potential in work and learning; and (3) skills and capabilities. How can we help people to make the most of their potential? What can be done to improve health for all? And how does people's health influence their education and work? These are the key questions he addresses together with others working in science, policy, and practice. His work has appeared in a broad range of journals in Sociology, Demography, Social Epidemiology, and Public Health. In the United Kingdom, his research was recognized with a prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize (2017) for outstanding achievement and exceptional promise. In addition to his research expertise, Tim Huijts has ample experience in project acquisition, teaching, course development and management, and project management. At ROA, he is currently responsible for several projects related to health, skills, and inequalities.

Between starting his current position, Tim Huijts worked as a Research Leader at ROA. Between April 2021 and April 2023, he also held a part-time position (0.2 FTE) as Professor of Sociology at the Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He obtained an MSc (2006, cum laude) and PhD (2011, cum laude) in Sociology at the Radboud University Nijmegen. Before joining ROA in April 2018, he worked as Assistant Professor at Utrecht University (2011-2013), Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford (2013-2014), Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London (2014-2016), and Senior Lecturer at the University of York (2016-2018). He was also a visiting scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health (2009).

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Publications

  • Huijts, T. (2021). Examining the impact of cuts to local government spending on sure start children’s centres on childhood obesity: a commentary. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health75(9), 813-814. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-217190

  • Gkiouleka, A., & Huijts, T. (2020). Intersectional migration-related health inequalities in Europe: Exploring the role of migrant generation, occupational status & gender. Social Science & Medicine267, [113218]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113218

  • Rydland, H. T., Fjær, E. L., Eikemo, T. A., Huijts, T., Bambra, C., Wendt, C., Kulhánová, I., Martikainen, P., Dibben, C., Kalediene, R., Borrell, C., Leinsalu, M., Bopp, M., & Mackenbach, J. P. (2020). Educational inequalities in mortality amenable to healthcare: A comparison of European healthcare systems. PLOS ONE15(7), [e0234135]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234135.r004

  • de Looze, M., Madkour, A. S., Huijts, T., Moreau, N., & Currie, C. (2019). Country-Level Gender Equality and Adolescents' Contraceptive Use in Europe, Canada and Israel: Findings from 33 Countries. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health51(1), 43-53. https://doi.org/10.1363/psrh.12090

  • Thomson, K., Bambra, C., McNamara, C., Huijts, T., & Todd, A. (2016). The effects of public health policies on population health and health inequalities in European welfare states: protocol for an umbrella review. Systematic Reviews5, [57]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-016-0235-3