Doctoral defence Hannelore De Grande

On October 1st, Hannelore De Grande successfully defended her PhD thesis on the educational inequalities in health and mortality among young persons in the Brussels-Capital Region before an international jury and a large public of family, friends and colleagues.

During her presentation she explored and deepened our insights into social inequalities in health and mortality among young persons in their transition to adulthood. She mainly focused on adolescents and young adults living in the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR), but comparisons with other Belgian cities and regions were also made. Using pooled data from the Belgian Health Interview Surveys (HIS) of 2001, 2004 and 2008 and death certificates linked to the 1991 and 2001 census, a detailed health profile of young adults in the BCR was sketched. The thesis produced valuable information on social inequalities in health and mortality among young adults of several migrant origins living in the BCR, and how their mortality has declined over time.

The jury was unanimous in their praise for the precision and clarity with which Hannelore De Grande had approached this complex topic, both in her presentation and in her PhD thesis.