U.S. and Non-U.S. Scholars

Fulbright New Century Scholars Program
Overview • Previous NCS Programs • NCS Scholar List • NCS Brochure • 2001-2002

Pim Martens

Senior Researcher and Director, Global Assessment Centre
Maastricht University
International Centre for Integrative Studies
Health Transitions in a Globalizing World: Toward More Disease or Sustained Health?
The Netherlands

Pim Martens (The Netherlands) is a senior scientist at the International Centre for Integrative Studies (ICIS), Maastricht University where he directs the Global Assessment Centre -- http://www.icis.unimaas.nl/gac/. Next to that he is a lecturer of the graduate courses 'Environmental Health Science' and 'Knowledge Technology', Maastricht University. Dr. Martens is project-leader and principal investigator of several projects related to global change and human health funded by, amongst others, the Dutch National Research Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme and the European Community. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Dr. Martens did his Ph.D. on 'Health Impacts of Climate Change and Ozone Depletion' at the Department of Mathematics, Maastricht University, within the project 'Global Dynamics and Sustainable Development', launched in 1992 by the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) -- http://www.rivm.nl/. During his Ph.D. research, he developed the MIASMA model. After finishing his Ph.D., he was a visiting researcher at the Harvard School of Medicine, and assistant professor at the Department of Mathematics. He holds two Masters Degrees: one in Biological Health Sciences, the other in Environmental Health Sciences, both from Maastricht University -- http://www.unimaas.nl/, The Netherlands.

Dr. Martens is editor-in-chief of the international journal Global Change and Human Health -- http://www.wkap.nl/journalhome.htm/1389-5702, managing editor of the international journal Integrated Assessment, and editor of the Kluwer Academic Press book series on Resurgent and Emerging Infectious Diseases: Disease Ecology and Evolution in the Twenty-First Century. His professional memberships include, amongst other, the Assessment Committee 'Climate, Ecosystems, Infectious Disease, and Human Health', commissioned by the U.S. National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, the Scientific Advisory Committee of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on 'Methods for Climate Change Impact Assessment and Adaptation Strategies, and the 'Global Warming International Program Committee (GWIPC).

Selected Publications:

· Martens, P. and Moser, S.C. (2001). Health impacts of climate change. Science, 292 (5519), 1065-1066.
· Martens, P., McMichael, A.J. and Patz, J.A. (2000). Globalisation, environmental change and health. Global Change and Human Health: Reviews on Globalisation, Environmental Change and Health, 1(1), 4-8.
· Martens, P. (1998). Health and climate change: Modelling the impacts of global warming and ozone depletion. Earthscan Publications Ltd, London.
· Martens, P., Slooff, R. & Jackson, E.K. (1997). Climate change, human health and sustainable development. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 76(6), 583-588.
· Martens, P., Niessen, L.W., Rotmans, J., Jetten, T.H. & McMichael, A.J. (1995). Potential impact of global climate change on malaria risk. Environmental Health Perspectives, 103(5), 458-464.

In recent decades, human dynamics, political relations and the global environment have been changing at an accelerating rate. The last few decades in particular were dominated by a single powerful force: globalisation, a process that is still integrating not only economies, but also culture, technology and governance. There is increasing evidence that the processes of globalisation are having far-reaching impacts on human well-being and health.

These processes of globalisation in today's world - that include socio-economic change, demographic change and global environmental change - oblige us to broaden our conception of the determinants of population health. Within many populations or communities the prospects for health are being adversely affected by the diminution of social capital - i.e. the widening gaps between rich and poor and the weakening of public health systems. Furthermore, the biosphere's capacity to sustain healthy human life is beginning to be impaired by the loss of natural capital: this is manifested as climate change, downturns in food-producing systems, the depletion of freshwater supplies, and the loss of biodiversity. A central question with regard to future developments is this: given current and anticipated socio-economic and environmental trends, will a sustainable and healthy life be possible for humankind as a whole?

New research programs and approaches are needed that look at the interactions between globalisation and health from an interdisciplinary, integrative perspective. Although there are many ways to describe the complexity of the processes related to globalisation and health, one way of viewing these linkages over time is through the concept of transitions. This dynamic technique is used heuristically for long-term examination of tensions between welfare, well-being and the environment, and to address policy options related to these changes.

In the research programme proposed, we emphasise the connectedness and dynamics of global processes related to human health in the broadest sense. This would mean research across traditional boundaries of discipline and methodology, and dealing both with descriptions of how the system works and the policies that might influence the kinds of changes that appear as threats or promises. Within the research program three scientific disciplines will be used to deepen the concept of transitions: 1. the integrated systems approach; and 2. the actor approach; and 3. the scenario approach.

The elaboration on the role of governments in the health transition, and the use system dynamic concepts will be essential for understanding current health trends and exploring future developments, and will form new elements to study the health transition in a globalising world and to legitimise policy interventions for long-term change. Integrated, long-term visions will be developed that reveal the tension between particular pathways of economic development, environmental change, equity, and human health. Furthermore, the research plan will play a pilot role in developing innovative guidelines and structures necessary for handling the complexity of the problem under concern and for developing problem-solving competence. The Fulbright New Century Scholars Program will provide the necessary input and intellectual power to fulfill the objectives above, and, vice versa, this project will increase our insights in the dynamics of health in a borderless world.

Health Transitions in a Globalising World: Towards More Disease or Sustained Health?

In recent decades, human dynamics, political relations and the global environment have been changing at an accelerating rate. The last few decades in particular were dominated by a single powerful force: globalisation, a process that is still integrating not only economies, but also culture, technology and governance. There is increasing evidence that the processes of globalisation are having far-reaching impacts on human well-being and health.

These processes of globalisation in today's world - that include socio-economic change, demographic change and global environmental change - oblige us to broaden our conception of the determinants of population health. Within many populations or communities the prospects for health are being adversely affected by the diminution of social capital - i.e. the widening gaps between rich and poor and the weakening of public health systems. Furthermore, the biosphere's capacity to sustain healthy human life is beginning to be impaired by the loss of natural capital: this is manifested as climate change, downturns in food-producing systems, the depletion of freshwater supplies, and the loss of biodiversity. A central question with regard to future developments is this: given current and anticipated socio-economic and environmental trends, will a sustainable and healthy life be possible for humankind as a whole?

New research programs and approaches are needed that look at the interactions between globalisation and health from an interdisciplinary, integrative perspective. Although there are many ways to describe the complexity of the processes related to globalisation and health, one way of viewing these linkages over time is through the concept of transitions. This dynamic technique is used heuristically for long-term examination of tensions between welfare, well-being and the environment, and to address policy options related to these changes.

In the research programme proposed, we emphasise the connectedness and dynamics of global processes related to human health in the broadest sense. This would mean research across traditional boundaries of discipline and methodology, and dealing both with descriptions of how the system works and the policies that might influence the kinds of changes that appear as threats or promises. Within the research program three scientific disciplines will be used to deepen the concept of transitions: 1. the integrated systems approach; and 2. the actor approach; and 3. the scenario approach.

The elaboration on the role of governments in the health transition, and the use system dynamic concepts will be essential for understanding current health trends and exploring future developments, and will form new elements to study the health transition in a globalising world and to legitimise policy interventions for long-term change. Integrated, long-term visions will be developed that reveal the tension between particular pathways of economic development, environmental change, equity, and human health. Furthermore, the research plan will play a pilot role in developing innovative guidelines and structures necessary for handling the complexity of the problem under concern and for developing problem-solving competence. The Fulbright New Century Scholars Program will provide the necessary input and intellectual power to fulfill the objectives above, and, vice versa, this project will increase our insights in the dynamics of health in a borderless world.