Lea den Broeder (1958) studied Pedagogical Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and later obtained a Master of Public Health at the Netherlands School of Public Health. In 2017 she received her PhD from the Free University with the thesis Citizen Science in Public Health, Engaging Communities in Knowledge Development. She works at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and is seconded to the HvA one day a week as special lecturer Health and Environment.

For over 10 years, Lea has been working on integrated health policy and more specifically on the interaction between people and their environment, first at the Netherlands School of Public Health and later at the RIVM. Resident participation and Citizen Science are important elements in her research. In addition to working with residents, she collaborates with professionals in the neighbourhood, with the Municipal Health Service (GGD) and the municipality, and with researchers from other institutes. In recent years, she has conducted research into how the elderly experience and value their neighbourhood, into nudging to stimulate exercise and into the impact of activity trackers on the health awareness of young and less educated people. In the project Kijk! Een gezonde wijk, the focus was on the development, together with the residents, of an own neighbourhood app for Amsterdam-Slotermeer.

At the RIVM, Lea is project leader of the Volksgezondheid Toekomst Verkenning (Public Health Outlook), which will be published in 2024 (VTV-2024). Looking ahead is also central to her work in the field of Health Impact Assessment; in addition to methodology and instrument development, she has developed and implemented training and education in this field within and outside the Netherlands.

Lea plays an active role in international networks on Integrated Health Policy and Health Impact Assessment. She is co-founder of the Working Group Citizen Science for Health (CS4Health) of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA). Lea is a board member of PHned, a network organisation of professionals in public health.