Healthy Start Academic Leads Eveline Crone (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Maaike Kleinsmann (TU Delft) symbolically handed over the baton to the current management team last Tuesday. Starting in 2025, they will serve as ambassadors for Healthy Start.

In 2021, Eveline Crone (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Maaike Kleinsmann (TU Delft), and Vincent Jaddoe (Erasmus MC) jointly established the Convergence program “Healthy Start” They shared a strong common mission: a healthier start for future generations. Since then, they, along with the Healthy Start community, have worked hard to build a strong program along six ambitious goals. Last year, Jan Carel Diehl (TU Delft), Renske Keizer (Erasmus University Rotterdam), and Irwin Reiss (Erasmus MC) joined Healthy Start as Academic Leads. Last Tuesday, Eveline and Maaike handed over the symbolic baton to the current management team. From 2025, they will remain involved as ambassadors for Healthy Start and the ambition teams.

As ambassadors, Eveline and Maaike will continue to build the community based on Healthy Start’s ambitions. They will maintain relationships with societal partners and other stakeholders through their strong networks and actively connect them to the ambitions of Healthy Start.

We are immensely grateful for the tremendous commitment and energy with which Eveline and Maaike, along with Vincent, have built Healthy Start into a strong program. With their exceptional ability to connect, they have brought science and society together in a shared mission. As Academic Leads and prominent figures in the scientific community, they have created space for young researchers to develop as the scientists of the future.