Videos

Together you are always stronger. Unfortunately, this also applies to some microbes, which can conspire to make us seriously ill. Microbiologist Katrien Van Dyck is investigating such a conspiracy between a fungus and a microbe that work together to cause a serious infection. By studying the interaction between the two, she hopes to find out how we can break their alliance.

Thanks to new radiotherapy techniques, more and more patients with head and neck cancer are surviving. But for 70% of them, this radiation causes chronic swallowing problems, making it difficult to eat and drink. Hanne Massonet hopes to help them enjoy food and drink again by training their tongue, mouth, and throat muscles.

Imagine being sick and simply being able to ask your body what's going on and what it needs to get better. Well, the proteins in our body can tell us that. But it takes a long time for us to understand what they're saying. With his tool, QCquan.net, bioinformatician Joris Van Houtven is determined to speed up that process!

One in six Belgians is obese and thus runs an increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This disease can affect the entire liver, in which case a liver transplant is needed to save the patient. Anneleen Remmerie (Ghent University - VIB) is looking for a way to combat the disease without the need for a new liver.

"Evolution is like a race: the individual who can reproduce the fastest wins the race. But we all know of one race that was not won by the fastest..." Jana Helsen (KU Leuven - VIB) explains how evolution is sometimes a bit like the fable about the tortoise and the hare.

Lots of people dislike these black sweets. But did you know that liquorice candy might well contain an ingredient to help cure wounds? Esther Hoste investigates whether an active compound found in the root of the liquorice plant can heal diabetic wounds 👉 🎥

"We must learn to talk about death, also in the workplace". Xenia Geysemans investigates how employers can better support grieving employees. Currently, employers are often too absent. In this video, Xenia offers 4 concrete tips.

How come medications have long leaflets with a whole list of possible side effects? That is what Hanne Leysen investigates. She looks at how signals are transmitted in our body, zooming in on cellular communication.

Marjolein Orije investigates whether vaccinating pregnant women helps to provide their child with the necessary antibodies against childhood diseases, such as whooping cough. Her research shows that vaccinating the pregnant mother also helps to boost the child's immune system, even if it is born prematurely.

Maja Verstraeten contributed to SoLid, a detector at the nuclear research center SCK-CEN in Mol consisting of about 13,000 transparent cubes. Why build such a thing? Well, the SoLid detector allows researchers to find out whether illegal nuclear weapons are being produced anywhere in the world 🕵️‍♀️🌍

It is a relatively new and promising path in cancer research: the reuse of old, non-cancer drugs. In her PhD, Laurie Freire Boullosa focuses on an old rheumatism pill and examines whether it can be used as a weapon against cancer.

Ever heard of a sand fly? If this small fly stings you, you can catch the serious, tropical disease Leishmaniasis. This disease is not easy to combat, because the parasites are masters at hiding in your body. Luckily Laura Dirkx (UAntwerp) has a trick up her sleeve to trace them