Iris Steenhout

Iris Steenhout (°29 april 1978, NINOVE, BELGIUM, ORCID-ID: 0000- 0002-0585-8423, PhD Criminological Sciences, MSc Criminology, MSc Computer Science) is a teaching assistant (30%) and a voluntary researcher at the research group Biostatistics and Medical Informatics (Faculty of Life Sciences). She is also a senior consultant for the core facility SQUARE, that offers Support for Quantitative and Qualitative Research, is a post-doctoral researcher (50%) at the research group Crime and Society (Faculty of Law and Criminology) and a student in Engineering (Digital eHealth/Machine Learning).

In 2010 Iris Steenhout started working as a teaching assistant at the Department of Criminology, after combining a full-time job at the Belgian Railroads with her studies. She obtained her PhD in Criminology, entitled “A multidisciplinary, systemic perspective on crime related discourses expressed on online Mass Media”, in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. E. Enhus and with prof. Dr. M. Hildebrandt, prof. Dr. A. Noé, and Dr. M. Lenartowicz as supervising committee. In 2020 she was granted a postdoctoral position via an Innoviris Anticipate project for 2 years, entitled “Producing Urban Legibility: Mobile City Applications and the Local Governance of Minor Offences”. The project was extended by another 2 years after a positive evaluation. She was involved as a postdoctoral researcher (20%) in the field of eHealth and aging (PROMISE project) from Oct. 2020 to Oct. 2021 (end of project). Currently she teaches statistics and Epistat at the Faculty of Life Sciences, she is still active in eHealth related projects on a voluntary basis and has several pending publications in this field.

Iris Steenhout has a special interest in the transformative nature of shared digital database-assisted applications (sDDAAs) and works on the nexus of life sciences, computer science and criminology. While eHealth has potential for a highly personalized medical care, Iris Steenhout looks beyond the rampant optimism that often accompanies eHealth solutions, like sDDAAs. Her focus is on the adoption, adaption and handling of these technologies by both caretakers and caregivers and offers an original perspective into an underexplored field, highlighting both the potential and limitations of sDDAAs, and taking into account the various intended and unintended consequences.

Former courses she taught include Informatics (part of the course Evidence Based Medicine), database management (CVO Aalst), Math4IT (HoGent), probleemoplossend denken (HoGent) and a variety of methodological courses.

Iris Steenhout has been published in international handbooks, several national and international journals, and she has presented her key findings at various expert seminars. Her work is picked up regularly by the media, including in VRT News, VTM news, De Standaard and other outlets. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and is a current member of the Education Council of the VUB, the Faculty Council (life sciences) and a replacement member of the Faculty Board (life sciences).

Research line

Policing and Surveillance

Urban and Spatial Criminology