Amsterdam Cohort Hub has awarded two fellowships to support early-career researchers in developing multicohort grant proposals. The 2025 fellowships have been granted to Robert Jertberg and Noreen Siddiqui.

Supporting multicohort research within ACH

The ACH Fellowship supports early-career researchers in preparing competitive grant proposals that make use of data from at least two ACH cohorts. The fellowship provides dedicated writing time and aims to strengthen cross-cohort collaboration, data reuse, and the scientific impact of cohort research within ACH.

The fellowships were awarded to two researchers whose proposals strongly align with ACH’s strategic goals and demonstrate innovative approaches to multicohort research.

Robert Jertberg – Understanding neurodiversity across cohorts

Robert Jertberg, postdoctoral researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, received an ACH Fellowship for his project “Across the Spectrum: Using Objective Behavioral Measures, Machine Learning, and Cluster-based Analyses to Reveal the Nuances of Neurodiversity.”

His proposal focuses on developing scalable, objective behavioral measures to better understand neurodiversity both within and beyond traditional diagnostic categories. By combining data from multiple ACH cohorts, including the Netherlands Autism Register and In Kaart, the project aims to elucidate the features that distinguish neurodevelopmental conditions as well as potential transdiagnostic cognitive subtypes linked to real-world outcomes such as quality of life and employment. The fellowship will support the preparation of a grant application to the Wellcome Trust Early-Career Award.

Noreen Siddiqui – Ultra-processed foods and cardiometabolic health

Noreen Siddiqui, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Epidemiology & Data Science at Amsterdam UMC, was awarded an ACH Fellowship for her project “Decoding the Role of Ultra-Processed Foods in Cardiometabolic Health.”

Her proposal investigates how ultra-processed foods affect cardiometabolic health by disentangling the combined effects of nutrient composition and food additives. Using data from the Hoorn Study and HELIUS, the project aims to integrate dietary, health, and sustainability indicators across cohorts. The fellowship will enable her to develop a competitive grant proposal for calls such as the Dutch Heart Foundation Dekker Fellowship and FutureFoodS.

Strengthening cross-cohort collaboration

With these fellowships, ACH invests in early-career researchers and in research that connects cohorts, disciplines, and institutions. Both projects illustrate how multicohort approaches can generate new scientific insights while strengthening the shared research infrastructure of Amsterdam Cohort Hub.