Events

On Monday 15 September 2025, from 17:15-19:45, we will organize the PIHC Matchmaking event at the TechMed Centre. There will be plenty of opportunity for networking during the "eating and meeting" session. This event might not only result in inspirational new project proposals for the PIHC call 2025, but also in long-lasting collaborations, additional funding and clinical impact.

Preliminary PROGRAM PIHC MATCHMAKING EVENT

Every project year, Pioneers in Health Care organizes two events. In September, we kick off the new Call for proposals with a Matchmaking event organised at the UT. The evening offers researchers from Saxion and the UT and clinicians from MST, ZGT and Deventer hospital the chance to find a match for their PIHC proposal and to learn about what the PIHC Innovation fund has to offer. During the meeting, roughly from 17.15 till 20.15, researcher who have been awarded a PIHC voucher in previous years will present their first results and they will give the attendees tips on finding partners, writing the application and starting the project, in order to learn from each other.
The second part of the evening is dedicated to 'Eating and meeting', during which the participants can ask each other: what expertise can you offer, and what are you looking for? In short, it is a very suitable event ot find your match for a PIHC proposal, get to know people, or catch up with existing contacts. 

In January, we host the PIHC Award ceremony, alternately organized by MST, ZGT, Saxion and Deventer Hospital. During this festive evening, we will first hear inspiring presentations of PIHC projects from previous years. After dinner, we will proceed to awarding the 10 ‘Technological pioneering in healthcare’ and ‘Applying technology in healthcare’ vouchers to the applicants who are anxiously waiting in the audience. The recipients of a voucher will give a short pitch in which they highlight how they expect that specific technology can contribute to solving very diverse clinical challenges.

On Thursday 30 January 2025, over one hundred healthcare professionals and researchers gathered at Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) for the presentation of the Pioneers in HealthCare (PIHC) vouchers. The vouchers enable innovative projects that improve healthcare and make it more patient-friendly.
This annual event, organised for the 11^th time by the PIHC Innovation fund of the University of Twente, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, MST, Ziekenhuisgroep Twente (ZGT) and Deventer Hospital, emphasises the importance of sustainable collaboration between knowledge institutions and healthcare organisations. 

CHALLENGES AND INNOVATIONS

Of the 37 proposals submitted, 10 were selected this year, each receiving a €60,000 grant. These projects deal with various medical challenges and technological innovations, aiming to improve patient care and increase healthcare efficiency. The projects starting this year focus on diagnoses such as sleep apnea and endometriosis, heart failure, asthma, cancer and technologies such as advanced AI systems, innovative imaging and 3D printing.

IMPACT ON DIAGNOSTICS AND PERSONALISED CARE

During the evening, Anneriet Dassen and Maureen Guichelaar, both medical specialists at MST, presented the results of their research for which they received a PIHC voucher in 2022. Their work shows the impact the vouchers have on improving diagnostics and personalised care. Maureen Guichelaar developed an AI model based on MRI data to predict a specific form of liver cancer early. This model prevents unnecessary medical tests for most patients and provides improved diagnostics via MRI to those patients who need it. This will lead to faster diagnosis of liver cancer, with better treatment options and survival rates.
Anneriet Dassen presented her research on the digital Patients-Like-Me (PLM) dashboard, which helps breast cancer patients choose the best-fit treatment together with their healthcare provider. This dashboard combines prognoses with long-term outcomes, such as pain and fatigue, and makes this data transparent to patients. This enables patients to make better-informed decisions.

GOOD INCENTIVE

Miriam Vollenbroek, member of the Board of Directors of MST, stressed the importance of the PIHC vouchers: ‘Collaboration between academic institutions and healthcare organisations is important. By developing innovative solutions together, we shape healthcare transformation. The PIHC grants are a good incentive in the collaboration.’