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.

Do you ever stress about presentations? Imagine if you felt that stress all the time. Well, that is the case with some individuals, such as children with autism. They find social interactions to be frightening and sometimes even threatening. Can a nasal spray with oxytocin relieve them of that stress? That is what Nicky Daniels is investigating at KU Leuven.

In 2020, we applauded en masse for our healthcare heroes. But did you know that for a very long time, nurses in Belgium hardly got paid or did not get paid at all? And that they hardly received any recognition? Historian Luc De Munck explains why that was the case.

After a stroke, many people suffer from swallowing problems (dysphagia), due to damage to brain areas responsible for controlling and coordinating the swallowing process. Can electrical stimulation help them restore the brain control of swallowing, to eat and drink comfortably again? That's what Marthe Everaert is looking into in her PhD.

Have you ever tried to get the last cookie from the bottom of the jar but couldn't quite reach it? Now, what if that cookie can potentially help cure cancer? Wiktoria Wojtaczka (KU Leuven) is investigating terbium, a chemical element that can be turned into a drug for cancer. But the problem she faces in her research is pretty similar to that of the cookie stuck in the jar

In 2020, a couple in Kampenhout died of malaria. In Belgium, this is highly exceptional, but worldwide, and especially in Africa, 400,000 malaria deaths, often involving children, occur every year. Leen Vandermosten wants to help reduce malaria deaths. Can injections of glucocorticoids, hormones from the adrenal glands, protect people from a deadly course of malaria infection? That's what Leen wants to figure out!

One in three stroke patients suffer from aphasia, a language disorder, and suddenly face problems communicating. The good thing is that with the right therapy their communication can be improved. In her PhD, Jill Kries (KU Leuven) is developing an automatic, fast, and precise method for diagnosis drawing on audio stories, EEG, and an algorithm.

In Belgium, 10,000 cyclists are injured in traffic accidents every year. While helmets help reduce skill fractures, they often don't protect cyclists from brain injuries. Andrea Menichetti (KU Leuven) studies how much our brain can deform before getting injured in order to help manufacturers produce safer helmets.

Did you know that colon cancer is the third most deadly cancer worldwide? Unfortunately, while immunotherapy is quite effective in the treatment of many cancers, such as skin cancer, it only works in 5% of colon cancer patients. Sara Verbandt (KU Leuven) explains how she wants to make immunotherapy stand up against colon cancer.

Immunotherapy is a very promising therapy for cancer, but only 15 to 30% of the patients respond to this kind of therapy. Giving immunotherapy to patients without knowing whether they will respond is expensive and can even harm them. That's why Madhavi Andhari is looking for markers to tell apart responders from non-responders.

A smart speaker can make our lives easier by acting as our home assistant and helping us manage our daily tasks. But what about our privacy? Can we trust these devices with our family arguments over money spending? By designing technologies and workflows, engineer Rafa Gálvez wants to help companies develop smart devices that respect our privacy.