Chair in Donor Behaviour for Eva-Maria Merz

Eva-Maria Merz, group leader at the department of Donor Studies (Sanquin Research) has been appointed professor in Donor Behaviour at the VU University. The corresponding Chair is positioned in the department of Sociology and is established on behalf of Sanquin. 

Eva-Maria’s research is focused on the influence of personal and social network characteristics on (blood) donor motivation and behaviour across different contexts. Eva Maria: “This chair will provide my research team and me with the opportunity to open up new horizons for donor research. My passion for the subject of “giving” is linked to a strong drive to understand the background of prosocial behaviour and to my fascination with public health and medical issues”. 

Her collaborations with the Biomedical Excellence of Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative, the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) and the European Blood Alliance (EBA), and from now on this position at the VU will strengthen her research on donor behavior. 
The results of her research will benefit the Blood Bank's activities.

Eva-Maria: "Prosocial behavior is complex. Donors are an ideal group to provide insight into this. This is because a lot of data is already known about blood donors and time and money donors, such as age, gender, place of residence, values and motivations, but their prosocial behavior is also registered: it is known if and when they donated blood. It is a wonderful source of information to get to know the person behind the donor.” 

 “Ultimately, we hope to set up international and multidisciplinary research that, taking multiple factors of influence into account, helps predict social behaviour. This will support the recruitment of blood donors, for example. And, possibly, it helps to make society a little friendlier."

Read more on the website of VU University Amsterdam