Andrea ‘t Mannetje (5 February 1972–30 August 2023)

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was deeply saddened to learn that Dr Andrea ‘t Mannetje passed away on 30 August 2023.

Dr ‘t Mannetje was a Professor at Massey University’s Research Centre for Hauora and Health (formerly the Centre for Public Health Research) in Wellington, New Zealand. Her main research interests were the identification and evaluation of occupational and environmental causes of chronic diseases, through epidemiological research. This included all epidemiological study types, as well as a range of methods to assess occupational and environmental exposures. She was interested in many health outcomes, notably cancer (lung, bladder, lymphoma, leukaemia, brain, sinonasal), asthma, diabetes, congenital malformations, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr ‘t Mannetje was a Special Training Awardee and pre-doctoral Fellow at IARC from August 1998 until June 2003, under the supervision of Dr Paolo Boffetta. She went on to complete her PhD thesis in occupational cancer epidemiology, titled “Retrospective Occupational Exposure Assessment in Multi-center Studies on Cancer”, in 2003 at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Her work was partly based on the IARC-led multicentre case–control study on lung cancer in central and eastern Europe.

Dr ‘t Mannetje became a great friend of IARC and its personnel. She contributed substantially to the IARC Monographs programme as a Working Group Member in Volume 99, “Some Aromatic Amines, Organic Dyes, and Related Exposures”; Volume 112, “Some Organophosphate Insecticides and Herbicides”; and Volume 118 (as chairperson of the cancer epidemiology subgroup), “Welding, Molybdenum Trioxide, and Indium Tin Oxide”. She was also part of the IARC Secretariat for Volume 83, “Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking”, while still working at IARC.

Dr ‘t Mannetje will be remembered for her substantial contributions to occupational and environmental epidemiology, for her collegiality, and for her willingness to share her expertise in the service of improving public health.

IARC extends its deepest condolences to her family and friends.