PIHC events
Every project year, Pioneers in Health Care organizes two events. We kick off the new project round with a Matchmaking Event where researchers and clinicians can meet and learn from each other, and previously funded projects. During an evening program, lasting about 3 hours, PIHC will be introduced and conditions for the upcoming project round will be discussed. Following this, winners of previous vouchers will present their initial results and take you through their journey to impact. During the second part of the program, attendees will engage in conversations over refreshments: what do you have to offer and what are you looking for? In short, it is a very suitable moment to kickstart a potential proposal.
Additionally, we organize the Award Ceremony where submitted proposals, under celebratory circumstances, find out which proposals have been funded. This event takes place every year at the location of one of our partners. In addition to the awards, inspiring talks, relevant to the respective organization, are also organized. Of course, refreshments are an essential part of this ceremony.
RECAP OF THE PIHC2024 AWARD CEREMONY 30 JANUARY 2025
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 11th 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.’