Videos

Slim top models and muscled hunks are increasingly making way for realistic models in advertising campaigns. A good evolution, although it is not clear whether these campaigns actually result in a more positive body image. Orpha de Lenne studies realistic advertisements to find out how they can really make us feel better about our body. 

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.

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!

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.

Out of breath after just eight steps up the stairs? That is the case every day for the 600,000 people in Belgium with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Physiotherapist Astrid Blondeel (KU Leuven) wants to help them using a personalised coaching programme and a smartphone app.

When you enjoy a day on the beach, you want to make sure to wear sunscreen to avoid sunburn. But did you know that quite a few sunscreens contain nanoparticles to help protect your skin from the sun? The use of nanoparticles is strictly regulated and only a limited amount can be used. Milica Velimirovic (VITO) is developing a new & fast analysis method to measure nanoparticles and their quantity in sunscreen. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness about the importance of indoor ventilation. But measuring indoor air quality and ventilation rates often requires eco-unfriendly substances or complex and expensive equipment. Luckily, Sarah Lima Paralovo (Universiteit Gent - VITO) is developing a simple method to measure ventilation rates.

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.

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 👉 🎥

How do we bring relevant news to young people, who are often not in the habit of reading a newspaper or scrolling through a news app? Kristin Van Damme researches this for and with young people. What to think of a news alarm clock or could Spotify make a career as a newsreader?

Did you know that it's possible to grow 1 million new trees in one year starting from (fragments of) one single plant? By using the promising technique of in vitro propagation, Maroua Grira (Ghent University) wants to save tree species such as Mahogany & Dalbergia from extinction. 

No less than half of beginning secondary school teachers quit within five years. Lisa Van Raemdonck (University of Ghent) wants to do something about this. In order to achieve more well-being and less stress in education, she focuses on 'SEMS'. Find out what this acronym stands for and how she wants to achieve this in this pitch.