Videos

Joren
Vanlaere
VUB

Flammable hydrogen: where best to place our detectors?

Hydrogen can play a key role in making our energy supply more sustainable. One problem though: hydrogen is highly flammable. So how do we store hydrogen safely? Joren Vanlaere is working on a solution to detect possible leaks at lightning speed.
Olga
Gkotsopoulou
VUB

Making information about our personal data accessible for all

"Several people with visual impairments use screen readers, which means that if an app or a website is not built with accessibility in mind, some information may not be noticeable to them at all."
Through her research, Olga Gkotsopoulou (VUB) wants to raise awareness and help organizations make information about our personal data accessible to the widest audience possible. 
Lina
Jasmontaite
VUB

Empowering individuals by making personal data breaches transparent

A personal data breach is not to be taken lightly: it can lead to depression, divorce, and even death. Seems far-fetched? Not really, as the data breach of a Canadian adultery website showed in 2015. Lina Jasmontaite (VUB) researches how companies (should) handle data breaches in Europe, since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 
Olaya
Lara
FWO
VUB

Sidelining Lionel Messi in fight against pancreatic cancer

Over the past five years, solid progress has been made in the fight against cancer, but unfortunately, that does not apply to pancreatic cancer. So what makes this cancer so hard to beat? Olaya Lara (VUB) explains this by comparing it to a football match. She also tells you what tactics she figures out to sideline xCT, the Lionel Messi in the pancreatic cancer team. 
Eva
Roose
VUB

Fighting pain after breast cancer: it feels so unfair!

The fight against breast cancer does not stop with overcoming cancer. 1 in 3 women continue to experience pain symptoms even during a harmless activity such as cycling. Physiotherapist Eva Roose (VUB) wants to help these breast cancer survivors reset their pain alarms.
Lianne
van Os
VUB

Curing liver disease with mini livers

Developing new drugs often requires a lot of animal testing. But what if we could develop drugs with fewer laboratory animals? That is what Lianne van Os is doing. Based on 1 mouse liver, she makes some 600 mini-livers in the lab to test new drugs against liver disease.
Shabnam
Zaman
VUB

The wonderful world of frog glue: a sticky topic

You all know the story of the frog prince, but we bet you haven't yet heard this "sticky" version by evolutionary biologist Shabnam Zaman... She is researching frog glue, a defense mechanism found in certain frog species, that could one day help you 🐸 Watch the video - we're pretty sure you will be glued to your screen. 
Michiel
De Proost
VUB

Social egg freezing: good for women's empowerment?

"Freeze your eggs, free your career". This was the headline on the cover of the business magazine Bloomberg Business a few years ago. The reasoning: women could freeze their eggs, to focus on their careers and then maybe have a child later. Sounds good for women's emancipation, but how do women themselves feel about it? Philosopher Michiel De Proost sat down with 21 women to find out.
Maximillian
Weil
VUB

Smart infrastructure will never stay out of tune

We've all seen images of spectacular collapses of large structures, such as the Morandi Bridge in Genoa. What if we could prevent the failure of structures such as bridges, dams, and wind turbines by ... listening to these structures? That's exactly what engineer Maximillian Weil (VUB) is working on. Listen to him talk about good vibrations.
Rebekka
Van Hoof
KU Leuven
UHasselt
VITO

Early messengers in the blood alert us to lung cancer

Anyone who has ever looked for Waldo knows how hard he is to find. In her research on lung cancer, Rebekka Van Hoof (Uhasselt - KU Leuven - VITO) faces a similar task: she is searching within more than 100,000 so-called extracellular vesicles for 2 types -say 'Waldos'- that can help detect the disease early. But she is determined to narrow her search field. How? Watch her explain it in this video. 
Lieve
Van Veggel
UHasselt

Protection for the cells that repair your brain

Have you ever been so stressed that you couldn't function properly? The same happens in the brain cells of patients with the nerve disease multiple sclerosis (MS) 🧠 Certain cells that help our brain to recover can no longer function properly due to too much stress. Lieve Van Veggel wants to help protect these cells. In this way, she and her colleagues hope to find a new way to slow down or even stop the progression of MS ✋🏻 🛑
Kim
De Veirman
FWO
VUB

Camel blood attacks dormant cancer cells

Why do cancer patients relapse despite receiving treatment? This is often due to dormant cancer cells. These cells lie dormant in the body and manage to escape treatment, for example, chemotherapy. Can substances from camel and llama blood provide a breakthrough?