Wilrike Pasman
I investigate how lifestyle influences people's health. The research we set up for this purpose can be conducted in various ways: in a controlled environment at a research location; together with healthcare professionals, for example in a health center; or by people themselves, at home, online.
In my research, I examine the influence of lifestyle or dietary interventions on health variables such as body weight, blood (pressure), body composition, or insulin sensitivity. I am also interested in the feelings of hunger and satiety that play a role in food intake. You can contact me if you would like to know more about how human-related research, whether or not it falls under the Medical Research Inquiry Act (WMO), must be conducted.
Research area
TNO Health & Work aims to contribute to human health and well-being by developing new strategies to prevent (chronic) diseases and providing people with the means to make better and healthier choices regarding nutrition and lifestyle.
The lifestyle people maintain has a major influence on their health. Their own physiology plays a significant role in this, in close conjunction with the environment and behavior. Your 'eat-drink-smoke-sleep-move' habits largely determine your health, alongside the daily 'work-family-environment' challenges. Teaching people how to adjust their lifestyle so that their health does not suffer has an impact on the individual and ultimately on society.
Discovering how lifestyle plays a role and which aspects of health are influenced, and especially how we can enable people to act on this themselves in an accessible way, is a wonderful challenge to me.
Recent results
In various studies over the past few years, we have examined how lifestyle influences the health of people with a medical condition. For instance, we conducted lifestyle research in Hillegom among people with type 2 diabetes; among patients in The Hague with pre-diabetes; and compared overweight and obese people participating in the SLIMMER Combined Lifestyle Intervention with a personalized SLIMMER variant at our TNO location.
We are now moving further towards online lifestyle intervention variants where participants can monitor their behavior and health themselves at home. By tailoring the interventions to the individual and offering personalized lifestyle treatments, the likelihood of maintaining lifestyle changes is higher.
Main and recent publications
- de Jong JC, Hoevenaars FP, Peters LG, Berendsen CM, Pasman WJ, Caspers MP, Dulos R, Wopereis S. A Real-Life Digital Intervention for Personalized Nutrition in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: Remote Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2026 5;28:e73367. doi: 10.2196/73367.
- Oosterman JE, Smid DJ, Kamstra RJM, de Hoogh IM, Huizing AHJ, Caspers MPM, van den Broek TJ, Kleemann R, van Empelen P, Ter Beek J, Pasman WJ, Wopereis S. Personalisation of the Dutch combined lifestyle intervention SLIMMER improves participant retention and weight loss in people at risk for cardiometabolic disease. Sci Rep. 2025 23;15(1):44347. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-27899-6.
- Effects of a 13-Week Personalized Lifestyle Intervention Based on the Diabetes Subtype for People with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes. de Hoogh IM, Pasman WJ, Boorsma A, van Ommen B, Wopereis S. Biomedicines. 2022; 10(3): 643.
- Pasman WJ, Memelink RG, de Vogel-Van den Bosch J, Begieneman MPV, van den Brink WJ, Weijs PJM, Wopereis S. Obese Older Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Muscle Insulin Resistance Benefit from an Enriched Protein Drink during Combined Lifestyle Intervention: The PROBE Study. Nutrients. 2020;12(10):2979. doi: 10.3390/nu12102979.
- Krone T, Boessen R, Bijlsma S, van Stokkum R, Clabbers NDS, Pasman WJ. The possibilities of the use of N-of-1 and do-it-yourself trials in nutritional research. PLoS One. 2020;15(5):e0232680. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232680.
- Pasman WJ, Hendriks HFJ, Minekus MM, de Ligt RAF, Scholtes-Timmerman MJ, Clabbers NDS, Leonards NM, Johnson J, Bellmann S. Subjective feelings of appetite of wholegrain breakfasts evaluated under controlled, laboratory and 'at home' conditions. Physiol Behav. 2018; 194:285-291. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.06.024.
- Pasman WJ, Boessen R, Donner Y, Clabbers N, Boorsma A. Effect of Caffeine on Attention and Alertness Measured in a Home-Setting, Using Web-Based Cognition Tests. JMIR Res Protoc. 2017; 6(9): e169. doi: 10.2196/resprot.6727.
- Pasman WJ. Obesity treatment and weight maintenance. Thesis, Maastricht University, 06-02-1998. Obesity treatment and weight maintenance - Maastricht University.
- Pasman WJ, van Baak MA, Jeukendrup AE, de Haan A. The effect of different dosages of caffeine on endurance performance time. Int J Sports Med. 1995; 16(4):225-30. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-972996.