Today is the International Day for Sleep; a day to focus on the importance of sleep. Sleep is crucial for health, both mentally and physically and when it is disturbed, it may largely affect many functions. In particular shift workers experience severe disturbed sleep with many consequences. What can they do about their problems? Within BioClock, in WP1.3, this is part of the research question on how personalized interventions may benefit shift workers. Amazing Erasmus wrote an article...

Ward Vleeshouwers started last January with his BioClock project. As a PhD candidate he will investigate the interaction between the circadian clock and the immune system, with a specific focus on tumors. His project is supervised by dr. Ramon Arens and dr. Laura Kervezee. Ward works at the LUMC on the Immunology department. Tell us a little about yourself, who are you, where are you from and what are your hobbies? My name is Ward Vleeshouwers and I am 23 years old. I grew...

In January, PhD candidate Demy van Gilst started her project in the Erasmus Medical Center of Rotterdam. In her project, she investigates the possibilities to induce a better day-night rhythm in neonates. The question she aims to answer whether that will lead to a faster growth and better long-term health. Under supervision of dr. Marijn Vermeulen, dr. Ines Chaves, prof. Bert van der Horst and prof. Irwin Reiss. Who are you? My name is Demy and I am a MD-PhD student in the...

On January 1st, 2022, Danielle Crowley started working as a PhD candidate at the Institute of Biology Leiden. She studies fish and focusses on the effects of light at night. During her project she will be supervised by dr. Christian Tudorache and prof. Joke Meijer. Tell us a little about yourself, who are you? My name is Danielle Crowley, I’m 28 years old and I’m from Essex, England. I really love going on adventures, especially when it involves snorkeling/swimming in the ocean....

This year, the city of Leiden is the European Capital of Science. Each day of the year 2022 focusses on a theme on which research is done in Leiden. On March 25, it is the Day of the Biological Clock. This is the day before Daylight Savings Time takes place which is no coincidence because that causes serious disruption of the clock. BioCLock and the LUMC will organize activities on this day during which you may learn more about the biological clock and how it influences our sleep. But...

The biological clock of people is not set to be active at night, and yet thousands of people do this every night. In health care, logistics, security, etc. For some people this is not an issue, for other it is a big problem. These shift workers have an increased risk to develop health problems, which is one of the focus points of BioClock research within WP1.3 De Volkskrant national newspaper wrote an extensive article on the consequences of working at night (in Dutch).

Emma Visser works at the Eindhoven University of Technology to study light therapy. This is a commonly used form of therapy for depressed patients, but how it exactly works or can be best applied is still under investigation. During her PhD project, Emma will study those questions under the supervision of dr. Luc Schlangen and prof. Yvonne de Kort. Emma introduces herself below: Who are you? I am Emma Visser, and living and working in Eindhoven. Besides working I like to take...