The aim of the Rotterdam Study is to investigate etiology, preclinical phase, prognosis and potential intervention targets of chronic diseases in mid- and late-life.
Researchers of the department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the Erasmus Medical Center led by Professor Albert Hofman, conceptualized the study in the mid-1980s as response to increase in the proportion of elderly persons in the population who are also living with chronic diseases.
On March 26, 1991, Princess Juliana opened the ERGO research center at Briandplaats, Rotterdam.
The third cohort of the Rotterdam Study (RS-III) started in 2006, this time with inhabitants aged 45 years and over.
Risk factors are measured at the research center, which is located in the middle of the district of Ommoord.