Dr. E.I. (Esther) Metting

Dr. Esther Metting is a psychologist and epidemiologist, currently working as assistant professor at the UMCG and the University of Groningen. Her dissertation was titled “Development of patient centered management of asthma and COPD in primary care” with a strong emphasis on the use of technology and patient involvement. She has also worked as project leader eHealth in a large health care organization and is active as board member or advisor in several patient organizations. These hands-on experiences with patients, health care professionals and health care organizations are valuable in her daily work. Above that, her unique experience in clinical, behavioral and implementation science have led to a solid and multidisciplinary basis for health research. In the past years she has coached and lectured numerous bachelor, master and PhD students with different backgrounds and from different faculties. In her role as project leader and chair she has learned to manage longitudinal (international) projects with researchers, health care professionals and students. Her goal is to use her talent, experience and passion for science to improve scientific knowledge in the field of eHealth. She has developed a website where one can follow her work: www.ehealth4all.info. Recently she received a VENI Talent Grant to perform research on digital illiteracy in different European countries.

Dr. Esther joined YAG for three reasons: first, she likes meeting other early career researchers with different backgrounds. She believes that interacting in multidisciplinary teams is very valuable, and it gives her new energy and ideas for her own research. Second, it’s very important to improve the position of early career research. Temporary contracts, high workload, and many obligations can make working in academia difficult. On the other side, being a researcher and satisfying one's curiosity by performing research project is very exciting and can have an important impact on society. It is therefore important that young people stay motivated and remain in the academic world. Finally, she likes to participate in projects that bridge the gap between academia and society such as the projects YAG does in the public engagement group. Her aim for the coming years in YAG is to contribute to a positive academic climate and to perform projects within her cohort and working group for academics and the general public.