About TNO

TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) is an independent, not-for-profit statutory research organization founded in 1932. Its mission is to create impactful innovations for the sustainable wellbeing and prosperity of society, making knowledge applicable for governments and companies.
TNO positions itself as “the innovation engine of the Netherlands”, connecting people and knowledge across six focus domains (including Health & Work and Circular Economy & Environment) to enable a secure, sustainable, healthy and digital society.
| Source: TNO.nl; TNO.nl; TNO.nl; TNO.nl

Collaborations with GHH-partners

Universities & Academic Medical Centers 

  • Erasmus MC 
    • 3D Pharma Printing & personalised medicines – joint initiative in which Erasmus MC and TNO use 3D printing to produce personalised medicines tailored to individual patients (dosing, release profiles). | Source: tno.nl/nl
    • Earlier collaboration on 3D-printed pills for sick children (experiment with Erasmus MC paediatric department). | Source: IO+ 
    • Joint clinical research on early cancer detection using light (oral mucosa imaging) to detect cancer at an earlier stage. | Source: NEMOKennislink
  • Amsterdam UMC 
    • Inclusive technology inspiration tool – TNO and Amsterdam UMC co-developed the “Inspiratietool Inclusieve Technologie” for the Dutch Labour Experts Knowledge Centre (AKC), mapping technologies that make work more accessible for people with disabilities or support needs. | Source: Arbeidsdeskundigen 
    • TNO also collaborates with Amsterdam academic medical centres on biomarker research for liver fibrosis. | Source: Health Holland 
  • Amsterdam UMC & Leiden University / LUMC 
    • Liver fibrosis diagnostics – TNO, together with the Academic Medical Centres of Amsterdam and Leiden, discovered a new blood biomarker set to assess liver fibrosis severity, aiming at less invasive and more cost-effective care. | Source: Health Holland 
  • Radboud UMC, Erasmus MC, TU Delft 
    • TTT MedTech (Thematic Technology Transfer) – TNO is a core partner in the TTT MedTech consortium, an alliance of TNO and 4TU (including TU Delft) funded by RVO. The consortium also includes Erasmus MC and Radboud UMC as university medical center partners for med-tech valorisation and spin-off development. | Source: Thematische Technologie Transfer 
  • LUMC & Radboud UMC (climate & health) 
    • GoHot consortium – In the GoHot project (“Gezond omgaan met hitte en pollen in een veranderend klimaat”), TNO is one of 16 organisations, alongside LUMC and Radboud UMC, assessing health risks from heat, pollen and air pollution and developing practical guidance. | Source: GoHot 
  • UMC Utrecht & UMCG 
    • UMC Utrecht and UMCG (Groningen) sit together with TNO in Health~Holland mission teams shaping the Dutch Life Sciences & Health mission agenda around prevention and healthy living. TNO staff (e.g. Hanneke Molema, Bart Keijser, Paulien Bongers) co-chair mission teams where UMC Utrecht and UMCG are core members. | Source: Health Holland 
  • TU Delft 

Government agencies & funders 

  • RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) 
    • RVO funds the TTT MedTech programme in which TNO is a central partner, supporting valorisation of medical technologies from Dutch universities and TNO. | Source: Thematische Technologie Transfer 
  • ZonMw 
    • ZonMw funds the GoHot climate & health project in which TNO participates, focused on health risks from heat, pollen and air pollution and how to communicate and reduce these risks. | Source: projecten.zonmw.nl 
  • Health Holland 
    • TNO projects in ventilation and air quality (e.g. CLAIRE on ventilation efficiency and recovery time) are powered by Health Holland PPP allowance. | Source: TNO Publications 
    • In the Health Holland Mission Teams, TNO co-chairs Mission Team I and V; these teams include multiple GHH partners (UMC Utrecht, UMCG, Amsterdam UMC, ZonMw, Aidsfonds) and steer the national LSH mission agenda. | Source: Health Holland

NGOs / advocacy & platforms 

  • Aidsfonds 
    • Aidsfonds sits with TNO in Health Holland Mission Team V (Bart Keijser and Paulien Bongers from TNO; Remko van Leeuwen from Aidsfonds). Together they help shape mission-driven innovation agendas on prevention and population health. | Source: Health Holland 
  • WEMOS 
  • Access to Medicine Foundation, AIGHD, Enigma-health, I+solutions, Kncvtbc, NVTG, Erasmus MC, Health Action International (HAI) 
    • All are co-members with TNO in Global Health Hub CoP2 (Pandemic preparedness), where they work together on global access to medicines/health products and AMR/zoonoses policy. | Source: Global Health Hub 

Overview of characteristics

Activities: 

  • Netherlands (primary base & focus) 
    • Headquarters in The Hague; TNO supports Dutch ministries, local authorities and businesses with applied research in health, environment, defence, digitalisation and energy. | Source: TNO.nl 
    • Strong role in national pandemic preparedness (e.g. P3Venti, pandemic diagnostics, BePrepared consortium) and national climate & health projects (GoHot, “hittekracht” heat-stress index). | Source: Stichting JAS 
  • Europe (EU & regional projects) 
    • Participates in European research networks and consortia (e.g. air pollution and emissions modelling, climate-adaptation research), supporting EU-level climate and health policy and standards. | Source: tno.nl/nl

Community of Practice:  

  • CoP2: Pandemic Preparedness and Cross-Border Health Threats 
  • CoP3: Climate Change and Public Health 

Themes & subthemes within CoP2 and CoP3 

CoP2 – Pandemic preparedness 

  • Themes: 
    • Pandemic diagnostics & surveillance:
      TNO’s Exploratory Research Programmes (ERPs) explicitly include “Pandemic diagnostics” and “Digital health measurements” as early-research areas, developing new diagnostic technologies and data-driven monitoring tools relevant for future pandemics. | Source: TNO Publications
      High-throughput SMART-LAMP COVID-19 testing blueprint (up to 40,000 samples/day) as a scalable molecular diagnostics workflow for future pandemic settings. | Source: TNO Publications 
    • Ventilation, airborne transmission & infection-control guidance (P3Venti): 
      TNO coordinates P3Venti (Program for Pandemic Preparedness by Ventilation), a 3-year consortium (2022–2025) funded by the Ministry of Health to understand airborne virus transmission and the role of ventilation/air cleaning, and to produce practical tools and seven national recommendations for future pandemics. | Source:  tno.nl 
    • Infectious disease modelling & behavioural research:
      TNO is part of the BePrepared consortium (12 universities, TNO, RIVM, Pharos, Trimbos) under the Pandemic Preparedness knowledge programme, researching behavioural rules and social responses to prepare better for future outbreaks. | Source: Universiteit Utrecht
      TNO works on microbial safety & hygiene, researching infection prevention, contamination sources and innovative hygiene measures for public-health settings. | Source: tno.nl 
    • Zoonoses, AMR and high-containment microbiology:  
      Longstanding work on zoonoses in the Netherlands, integrating public-health and veterinary data to understand transmission patterns. | Source: resolver.tno.nl 
      ML-III facility in Leiden for research with class-3 pathogens, host–microbe models, and advanced bio-analysis – supporting research on infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. | Source: tno.nl 
  • Subthemes: 
    • Pandemic diagnostics & high-throughput testing 
    • Ventilation & built-environment infection control 
    • Infectious disease modelling, surveillance and behavioural response 
    • Zoonoses and AMR (lab capacity & risk assessment)

CoP3 – Climate change & health 

  • Themes: 
    • Air quality, emissions & healthy living environments: 
      TNO’s Climate and Air Quality work develops methods to measure particulate matter, nitrogen and greenhouse gases, identify emission sources and health impacts, and provide policy advice on climate change and air pollution. | Source: tno.nl
      They offer a 5-step approach for healthy air, guiding local authorities to improve outdoor air quality and protect population health. | Source: tno.nl 
    • Climate-related health risk assessment & adaptation (heat, pollen, air pollution): 
      ATACH Kenya case study – TNO’s integrated model combines weather and air-pollution data to map heat-stress and air-pollution health risks for vulnerable groups, providing quantitative, action-oriented information for climate adaptation strategies. | Source: tno.nl
      GoHot project (Netherlands) – Multidisciplinary consortium (16 organisations, incl. TNO, LUMC, Radboud UMC) funded by ZonMw, assessing risks from heat, pollen and air pollution in a changing climate, and translating findings into communication tools and actionable measures to reduce disease burden. | Source: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
      Co-development (with KNMI, RIVM and VU) of a “hittekracht” (heat-force) index that classifies heat stress similarly to wind force, to help authorities and employers better communicate and manage extreme heat. | Source: Climategate Klimaat 
    • Healthy living & work in a changing environment:
      The Health & Work unit focuses on “Healthy Living & Work”, developing innovations for personalized digital health and helping people make choices to protect health and productivity, including in the face of environmental stressors. | Source: tno.nl 
  • Subthemes: 
    • Air quality, emissions & exposure assessment for health 
    • Heat-health & climate-related exposure indices (e.g., hittekracht) 
    • Integrated climate–health risk modelling and adaptation planning (Netherlands & LMICs such as Kenya) 
    • Climate-resilient healthy living and working environments

Organization type:

Knowledge institute

Available resources:

Knowledge & expertise 

  • Pandemic diagnostics & preparedness 
    • In-house programmes on pandemic diagnostics and digital health measurements (Exploratory Research Programmes), generating new methods for early detection and remote monitoring in epidemics. | Source: TNO Publications 
    • Practical evidence and tools from P3Venti on airborne virus transmission and ventilation, including seven national recommendations for future pandemics. | Source: tno.nl 
  • Infectious disease & microbiology 
    • ML-III high-containment facility with integrated host–microbe models and advanced bio-analysis, used for research on infectious diseases, AMR and disinfection effectiveness – TNO can provide lab capacity, protocol development and risk-assessment expertise. | Source: tno.nl
    • Expertise and datasets on zoonoses and microbial safety/hygiene, relevant for One Health and pandemic-preparedness work. | Source: resolver.tno.nl
  • Climate, air quality & environment-health 
    • Long-standing expertise in emissions & air-quality modelling, translating data into policy advice on climate change, air quality, healthy living environments and biodiversity. | Source: tno.nl 
    • Development and testing of integrated climate–health risk models (ATACH Kenya; GoHot heat–pollen–air pollution) that can be adapted for other countries and contexts. | Source:  GoHot 
  • Applied health innovation 
    • Applied research on personalised medicines (3D pharma printing) with Erasmus MC, early detection technologies, women’s health, and digital health solutions – relevant for health-system resilience and continuity of care. | Source: tno.nl

Networks 

  • National & GHH networks 
    • Active member of Global Health Hub CoP2, working closely with GHH partners including Access to Medicine Foundation, AIGHD, Enigma-health, Erasmus MC, Health Action International, I+solutions, Kncvtbc, NVTG and WEMOS. | Source: Global Health Hub 
    • Embedded in Health~Holland as co-chair of mission teams, alongside UMC Utrecht, UMCG, Amsterdam UMC, ZonMw, Aidsfonds and others – strategic platform connecting TNO to the Dutch LSH ecosystem. | Source: Health Holland 
  • Academic & clinical partners 
    • Deep, long-term collaborations with Erasmus MC, Amsterdam UMC, LUMC, Radboud UMC, TU Delft, 4TU alliance, and others through projects like 3D Pharma Printing, biomarker discovery, TTT MedTech, and GoHot. | Source: GoHot 
  • International climate & health networks
    • Member of GoHot and ATACH-linked projects, with partners including KEMRI, Clean Air Africa, RIVM, KNMI, WUR, VU and municipalities – bridging Dutch and LMIC climate-health expertise. | Source: ZonMw 

Influence / policy leverage 

  • TNO supports Dutch ministries (e.g. VWS) with evidence on ventilation, pandemic preparedness, climate adaptation and healthy environment, thereby shaping national strategies and standards. | Source: tno.nl
  • Their climate-health risk models are used in Kenya’s climate and health strategy context, showing influence beyond the Netherlands. | Source: atachcommunity.com 
  • Allergy and exposome work (e.g. RAPID allergen thresholds database) informs WHO/FAO guidance on safe allergen limits – an example of TNO feeding into global health standards. | Source: tno.nl

Financial & in-kind resources 

  • TNO manages internal Early/Exploratory Research Programmes that provide seed funding and staff time for strategic topics like climate–air quality and pandemic diagnostics. | Source: TNO Publications
  • Secures external grants for consortia (e.g. P3Venti funded by VWS, GoHot funded by ZonMw, PPP projects powered by Health Holland), allowing TNO to co-finance joint research and pilots. | Source: TNO Publications

Coordination & convening capacity 

  • Proven programme coordination (e.g. P3Venti coordinator; core partner in GoHot and TTT MedTech), including management of large, multidisciplinary consortia that link research, policy and practice. | Source: Thematische Technologie Transfer 
  • Operates specialised facilities (ML-III lab, air-quality modelling platforms) that can host collaborative projects and serve as shared infrastructure for partners. | Source: tno.nl 

Contact information

Website: Innovation for life | TNO