Elisabeth Huis in 't Veld in Dutch National Geographic

Sanquin Researcher Elisabeth Huis in 't Veld features in the the April issue of the Dutch National Geographic.  She has been interviewed for a new section focusing on young scientist conducting inspiring research.

National Geographic spoke with Elisabeth for the section "The science of tomorrow - talented researchers explore our world". Elisabeth explains: “The magazine looked for inspiring studies. They found me through a list of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and found my research very interesting. I really enjoyed being approached for this and doing the interview. 

In the article, Elisabeth talks about her research into the possibilities of predicting whether someone will faint during blood donation, based on data from infrared thermal imaging of the face. A game must then prevent donors from becoming dizzy or fainting. Because without having any influence on it, your brain causes physical reactions of stress or anxiety at the sight of a needle.

With a game, Elisabeth wants to help prevent those vasovagal reactions during blood donations.  “A heat camera on your mobile is watching while you play the game. The camera reads all kinds of bodily signals from your face and converts them into actions in the game. The idea is that by playing the game you teach your brain to control itself. It sounds like magic but it really works! "