Dr. J. (Joris) Deelen, PhD

I am an associate professor focusing on how genetics contributes to human aging. I also try to find blood-based biomarkers that reflect the overall health of an individual in order to detect people in the population who are at increased risk of aging-related disease. I obtained my PhD from the Leiden University in the field of genetic and biomarker studies of human longevity in 2014. In 2016, I moved to the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Germany where I was research group leader between 2020 and 2024. Since 2025, I am back at the LUMC.

The work in my research group is primarily focused on the identification and functional characterization of genetic variants associated with human longevity. This work is supported by both an ERC Starting Grant and a Longevity Impetus Grant. In addition, our work focuses on using epidemiological and intervention studies to identify and validate biomarkers of general health. For this we use studies set up at LUMC, such as the Leiden Longevity Study and the Growing Old Together study, but also collaborate with many (inter)national partners.