Videos

Heart failure patients have a lot of trouble with physical exertion. They can barely even walk the dog. To improve their condition, they can follow training programs in the hospital. But more than half of the patients hardly benefit from them. Cardiologist in training Isabel Witvrouwen (UAntwerpen - University Hospital Antwerp) is trying to find out why.

In Belgium and the Netherlands, more than 1,000 people suffer from DFNA9, a condition that causes hereditary hearing loss and balance disorders. DFNA9 is due to an error in the DNA of the ear. Dorien Verdoodt (UAntwerp) is conducting research into a new therapy based on the revolutionary Crispr genetic technique. In this way, she hopes to be able to cure hereditary hearing loss in the future with a syringe in the ear.

Imagine constantly hearing a ringing bell, a jackhammer, or that awful beep of the old television test screen in your head. That's what people with tinnitus experience. At the UZA they want to treat people with tinnitus better. For too long the cause was sought in the ear, without looking at the crucial motor that controls all our perceptions: the brain. Emilie Cardon (UAntwerpen) explains why we have to look for tinnitus there.

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!

"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.

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

What happens in your brain when you are depressed? That is what Eva Claeys tries to find out. As a researcher in biological psychiatry, she wants to better understand the 'biology of the depressive brain'. 

Did you know that testosterone makes birds sing better? And that you can also use this knowledge to give better presentations? Jasmien Orije (UAntwerp) explains how that works in this video.