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Mirjam van den Brink

Postdoc and project coordinator FITco study

Clinical research into nutrition, body composition, exercise, and the gut microbiome during treatment of childhood cancer

Phone +31 88 97 272 72


Since 2018, I have been working at the Princess Máxima Center doing research on supportive care, specifically nutrition. My PhD research focused on smell and taste changes in children undergoing chemotherapy and it’s consequences for dietary intake, eating behavior, and quality of life. This research is now continuing in pediatric cancer survivors and we are also working on tools to help deal with changes in smell and taste.

After my doctoral research, I started as a postdoc and project coordinator of the FITco study.

In the FITco study, we follow 500 children with cancer or a craniopharyngeoma and measure their body composition, dietary intake, and physical activity at several moments during and after treatment. In addition, we study to what extent any changes in these affect treatment-related side effects (toxicity), quality of life and survival. In a subgroup of children, we are also investigating the microbiome. The information gathered from this project will help us identify nutritional/exercise interventions to support children with cancer. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce side-effects, improve survival rates, and enhance the quality of life for children with cancer.

Smell and taste changes in children with cancer
Dietary advice for changes in smell and taste

  • Pediatric oncology nutritional practices in high-income countries: A survey from the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP)

    • dec. 2024
    • Erin, Gordon, et al
    • Pediatric Blood and Cancer
  • Reply - Letter to the editor - YCLNU-D-24-02083

    • okt. 2024
    • Ichelle, van Roessel, et al
    • Clinical Nutrition
  • Taste and smell are associated with dietary intake, eating behavior, nutritional status, and health-related quality of life in children with cancer

    • okt. 2024
    • Mirjam, van den Brink, et al
    • Clinical Nutrition
  • Feasibility, safety, and efficacy of dietary or lifestyle interventions for hypothalamic obesity

    • mei 2024
    • I M A A, Van Roessel, et al
    • Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)
  • A longitudinal evaluation of smell and taste function in children with cancer during and after treatment with chemotherapy

    • jan. 2024
    • Mirjam, van den Brink, et al
    • Appetite
View all publications