Evolutionary medicine

Evolutionary Medicine is a fast growing new research field within the life sciences that applies modern evolution theory to the study of health and disease. It aims at understanding not only how people become sick (based on molecular, physiological and neurobiological mechanisms), but especially why people become sick, based on our evolutionary history and general evolutionary principles. It uses key concepts in evolutionary research, such as trade-offs between different optimal solutions, different modes of Darwinian selection, our limits to adaptation, both in the past and in our currently rapidly changing world. It has yielded important progress in cancer research and immunology, but has also great potential for understanding other aspects of human biology including ageing, vulnerability to infections, cardio-metabolic diseases and psychological disorders.

Coordinator(s): Gertjan van Dijk, Marjon de Vos