On 1 April 2026, Professor Isabel Arends will take up her new position as Director-General (DG) of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). In so doing, she will take over from acting DG Sicco Louw who has headed the organisation since November 2025, following the departure of Hans Brug.
As DG of RIVM, Isabel will lead our knowledge institute and oversee its societal tasks in the fields of public health and the environment. This involves taking the necessary decisions on, for example, innovation, digitalisation and collaboration with national and international knowledge partners.
Isabel Arends: “RIVM is an organisation with a strong societal mission, where professionals use their expertise and work together every day to promote health and safety. I believe in transparency: in showing people how knowledge is developed and in conscientiously reinforcing the bonds between science, policy and practice, in particular in challenging times. My primary goal is to create calm, clarity and connection.”
Professor Isabel Arends has held various positions at Utrecht University since 2018, including Dean of the Faculty of Science and Professor of Sustainable Organic Chemistry. Her previous positions included Head of the Department of Biotechnology at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). She also founded the Bioengineering Institute at TU Delft and served as its Director between 2016 and 2018. Isabel Arends studied Physical Organic Chemistry at Leiden University, obtaining her PhD in 1993. Alongside her role as DG of RIVM, Isabel Arends will remain affiliated to Utrecht University as a professor.
Following approval by the Council of Ministers, Isabel Arends was appointed to this position by the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, on 19 December 2025. After his period as acting DG, Sicco Louw will return to his former position as Director of Operational Management/CFO and deputy DG at RIVM.