MIND SPELLER - KU Leuven

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Speciale editie
INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE OF K.U.leuven | may 2010 | www.kuleuven.be/CI/
v.u. Pieter Knapen – Campuskrant – Oude Markt 13 – bus 5005, 3000 Leuven
MIND
SPELLER
AWARD-WINNING DEVICE converts brain signals into words
Henk Van Nieuwenhove / Tine Bergen
A team of Leuven professors has successfully developed a
compact, portable device that converts brain signals into
words and sentences. The project has been awarded the
SWIFT Prize of the King Baudouin Foundation – a grant of
50,000 euro. Our reporter was given the opportunity to test
the device.
The mind speller, an intelligent textual
and verbal communication device for people
with reduced motor functions, was developed
at the Laboratory of Neuro- and Psychophysiology.
“It is a small EEG device with which
people can type text mentally by having their
brain waves tracked,” Professor Marc Van
Hulle explains. “It is a means for people who
are paralysed and suffer from speech or language
impediments to communicate with the
outside world.”
The portable, battery-operated device
is about the same size as a matchbox and is
connected to a kind of swimming cap, which
in turn connects all the necessary electrodes
to the scalp. Using a USB stick, the signals
recorded by the device can be transferred to
a PC and decoded by a programme that has
been developed specifically for this purpose.
The electronics were developed by IMEC in
Leuven, Europe’s largest independent research
centre in nano-electronics and nanotechnology.
“The device spells characters and, in an
advanced form, it can even be adapted to automatically
complete words or sentences,” Van
Hulle says. “We tested the system on about a
dozen patients who had all suffered a brain
haemorrhage and they were all able to formulate
words successfully. We can form up to ten
characters per minute. This is an enormously
significant breakthrough for people who are
unable to communicate via either speech or
movement and who are searching for independence
and social contact. Through this
compact communication device, they are now
able to make contact with other people, and
thus to reintegrate socially. This also opens future
perspectives for children with autism because
the mind speller can be used to detect
basic emotions and thus provide parents and
counsellors with a deeper insight into what
exactly is going on in the child’s head.”
“Through music, for example, the device
could also be used to read the emotions of
people who are unable to recognise words or
to form them. Its initial application will be in
the medical sector, though the gaming world
is keen to develop the device as well.”
Professor Van Hulle and his team are
now working on the development of a barrette
that contains all the electronics the mind
speller requires to operate. The SWIFT Prize
has made it possible for the team to transform
its experiment into a marketable product
at an affordable price within the next two
years. Since 1997, the SWIFT Fund has awarded
a prize to a Belgian or Dutch product that
brings people closer together through the innovative
use of technology.
The mind speller was developed in co-operation
with Dr. Chris Van Hoof, Programme
Director Human++ at IMEC, Professor Tigran
Maytesian of the Lemmensinstituut, Professor
Luc Geurts of Groep T and the neurological
research groups of Professor Vincent Thijs
and Professor Wim Robberecht and the Division
of Experimental Otorhinolaryngology
led by Professor Ann Goeleven.
Trying the cap out
We were given the opportunity to test the
mind speller ourselves. Being able to focus is
essential for the device to function correctly,
so I was curious to know how well I would be
able to concentrate when researcher Adrien
Combaz put the swimming cap with electrodes
on my head. He then squirted a cold gel
under the electrodes until they lighted green
– indicating that my brain waves were being
received clearly. They appear as coloured lines
on the screen. Adrien then asked me to clench
my teeth and the lines immediately started to
move on the screen as well. Winking caused
the same reaction.
In order to accustom the mind speller
to my brain, I was shown a screen full of letters,
numbers and punctuation marks, all
neatly arranged in rows and columns. Alternately,
each column and row was lighted up
in yellow ten times and I was told to focus on
the character that the programme indicated
and to count how that character lighted up
a total of twenty times. This was done for
eight characters, after which the computer
had collected enough information about my
brain waves to be able to tackle the real challenge:
I had to choose which letter to focus
on and to try and make a word appear on
the screen.
I started with my own name and to my
great satisfaction, I managed to spell out
‘Tine’ on the screen. Now for something
more complicated: ‘thinking’ Campus Insight
onto the screen. Unfortunately, things
started going wrong by the ‘m’, and another
‘a’ appeared on the screen instead. I had no
difficulty with the remaining letters, so the
finished product read Caampus Insight. Not
bad for only a second attempt! Adrien told
me that the mistake may have been caused
by the computer as the ‘m’ and the ‘a’ were
very near one another on the same row. Consequently,
the computer may have misread
the position of the letter I was concentrating
on. In any case, the feeling of being able to
make words appear on a screen just by thinking
is absolutely fantastic.
Online
http://www.mindspeller.be/
Cover image (© Rob Stevens)
News
Nobel prize winner SEAMUS
HEANEY attends inauguration
of CENTRE FOR IRISH STUDIES
[ PAGE 3 ]
Research
REVOLUTIONARY PLATE with
built-in microchips makes
DROPLETS of flavour DANCE
[ PAGE 6 ]
Alumni
Foundation of CHINA
ALUMNI CLUB celebrated in
Beijing and Shanghai
[ PAGE 7 ]

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Editor-in-chief
Reiner Van Hove
Contributors
Tine Bergen, Ludo Meyvis,
Ines Minten, Jaak Poot,
Rob Stevens, Katrien
Steyaert, Henk Van
Nieuwenhove, Benedict
Vanclooster
Translators
English: John Arblaster
Chinese: David Xu
Design
Catapult
Layout
Wouter Verbeylen
Photography
Rob Stevens,
Michel Vanneuville
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Dear Reader
“A poem is a hospitable place you can enter and leave. It
can take a snapshot of consciousness and freeze-frame it.”
Few people are as eloquent as Seamus Heaney, the Irish
poet and Nobel Prize winner who recently visited Leuven.
If I had been wearing the mind speller from our cover article
when I read the quotation above, it would have said:
actually, you could define Campus Insight the same way. We
aspire to make this a welcoming magazine that provides a
snapshot of the diversity of activities at our university.
Of course Seamus Heaney is not the only foreign
guest we have received in the past few months. Further
on in these pages, for example, you will find a fine group
portrait of the varied but like-minded company of rectors
and mayors that gathered in Leuven for the 25th anniversary
of the Coimbra Group. We also had good reason to
celebrate abroad: the launch of the China Alumni Club in
Beijing and Shanghai, the first alumni association for a whole country. In honour of this
event, I’m very pleased to address our Chinese readers in their own language below.
From now on, I plan to hazard a try at a different language in every issue. I will have
to look up how to conclude in Finish or Malaysian, but fortunately I already know what to
say in English: enjoy reading our magazine and until next time!
Professor Bart De Moor
Vice Rector for International Policy
亲 爱 的 读 者
阳 春 三 月 , 我 们 分 别 在 北 京 和 上 海 与 数 十 位 校 友 欢 聚 一 堂 , 庆 祝 鲁 汶
大 学 中 国 校 友 会 的 诞 生 . 在 特 点 鲜 明 和 家 庭 团 聚 般 的 气 氛 中 , 校 友 们
畅 叙 对 鲁 汶 的 美 好 回 忆 和 回 国 后 的 心 得 .
我 们 的 校 友 会 有 效 地 加 强 了 中 国 和 鲁 汶 的 关 系 . 过 去 几 年 中 , 我 们 在
这 方 面 已 做 出 了 成 绩 , 我 们 和 中 国 最 优 秀 的 几 所 高 校 建 立 了 新 的 合 作
关 系 , 今 年 已 有 450 名 中 国 学 生 在 鲁 汶 就 读 . 我 们 衷 心 祝 愿 他 们 在 鲁 汶
度 过 难 忘 的 和 激 情 的 时 光 , 并 希 望 他 们 在 完 成 学 业 和 研 究 后 能 成 为 我
们 鲁 汶 的 友 好 使 者 .
通 过 这 本 杂 志 , 我 们 高 兴 地 和 我 们 的 友 好 使 者 们 及 时 分 享 鲁 汶 科 研 和
教 育 信 息 , 我 祝 愿 各 位 阅 读 愉 快 !
巴 特 . 德 莫 尔 教 授
国 际 政 策 副 校 长
Beauty in smallness
“More than anything else, I am fond of the smallness of Leuven,”
writes Mesfin Awoke Bekalu, an Ethiopian pre-doctoral student
at the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research.
“It is not just Leuven’s awesome historic
buildings, nor its beautiful gardens, nor its
‘mild’ winter, nor its thirst-quenching Stella Artois,
nor any of its other wonderful assets that I
have grown extremely fond of over the past few
months. It is the beauty of Leuven’s smallness. I
first set foot in Leuven towards the end of September
2009. The morning after my arrival, I
visited my professor and he asked me what my
reactions to Leuven were. The first descriptive
word I could utter was that it is little. “Little?”
was his critical response with the expectation
of further clarification from me. Well, coming
from a country where towns and cities usually
cover extensive areas of land – though there are
no big buildings or standard roads – the first
thing that I noticed about Leuven was indeed
that it is small.”
“For most of us, or at least for me and the
culture I am from, small things tend to be more
amusing than their big counterparts – kids vs.
adults, puppies vs. dogs, cubs vs. lions, and so
forth. On the other hand, I often hear people
say that Americans love big stuff – big cars, big
jets, big tools and so on. I presume that a great
deal of psychology and philosophy is related to
this issue and would not attempt to formulate
any logical reason to support my love of Leuven’s
smallness. I would simply say that more
than anything else, I am fond of the smallness
of Leuven due perhaps to the simple life it has
afforded me transportation-wise, the sense of
security it has given me, or the feeling of belonging
it has rendered me – I don’t know!”
Leuven Favourites
(© Rob Stevens)
Tell us about your favourite aspect – professor,
place, culinary specialty… – of Leuven
(max. 400 words). The best entry will
be published in the next issue and its author
will win a beautiful etching of a university
location. E-mail your ‘favourite’ to
campusinsight@kuleuven.be
Prestigious
award for
Carmeliet
His pioneering research on heart and
vascular diseases and thrombosis has
earned Professor Peter Carmeliet of the
Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB)
and K.U.Leuven the prestigious Ernst Jung
Medical Award, one of the highest European
prizes for biomedical research. The award
includes a monetary prize of € 150,000, to be
used primarily for further scientific research.
The Ernst Jung Foundation is bestowing
this prize on Peter Carmeliet for his groundbreaking
scientific insights into the growth
and the role of blood vessels. Carmeliet has
demonstrated the importance of various
growth factors in the formation of blood
vessels (angiogenesis) in cancer and diseases
of the eye; and the therapeutic potential of
a new angiogenesis-inhibitor (anti-PlGF) for
the treatment of cancer is currently being
tested in clinical trials conducted by ThromboGenics
in collaboration with Roche.
Carmeliet’s more recent studies are revealing
a major role of one of these factors (VEGF)
in ALS, a fatal paralysing disorder of the
nervous system. The European Medicines
Agency (EMEA) has recognised a Leuven
laboratory’s candidate medicine to combat
ALS as an ‘orphan medicine’. This name is
given to promising medicines that would
not reach the market without extra financial
and administrative stimuli. Clinical trials to
evaluate the therapeutic potential of VEGF
for ALS patients are now underway.
Breakthrough
trachea
transplant
A team of doctors at K.U.Leuven has successfully
performed the first vascularised tracheal
allotransplantation. They were able to repair
the complex blood supply to the trachea and
to prevent the immune system from rejecting
the transplant. This operation, which was
presented in the leading scientific journal
The New England Journal of Medicine, has
never been performed successfully anywhere
in the world before.
The doctors performed a “double” transplantation.
They first implanted the donor
trachea into the patient’s forearm. The
transplant’s blood supply was then gradually
taken over by the radial blood vessels of the
forearm. Once the blood supply was completely
restored, the doctors relined the mucosa
of the donor trachea with the patient’s
own buccal mucosa.
Immunosuppressive medication was administered
for the first few months. After
the restoration of the blood supply and the
partial relining of the mucosa, however, the
transplant trachea was sufficiently recognised
as ‘self’ by the body. The administration of
immunosuppressive medication was stopped
completely after eight months and the trachea
was transplanted to the neck. The blood
vessels that had developed in the forearm
were then sutured to the neck vessels. The
team has treated three patients successfully
to date.
2

News
New Centre for Irish
Studies inaugurated
Nobel Prize Winner Seamus Heaney attends opening
Tine Bergen / Katrien Steyaert
The new Centre for Irish Studies, which will stimulate multiand
interdisciplinary research in three general fields related
to Ireland, is housed in the historic Irish College.
The Irish College was founded by the Irish
Franciscans in 1607. Its primary function was
to accommodate Irish Catholic priests and it
later also served to house the exiled aristocracy
of Ulster. The college is currently home to the
Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe. In 2007,
during the celebration of the fourth centenary
of the Irish College, the idea of establishing an
Irish research centre in the building was proposed.
“The objective is to be an incubation
centre for multidisciplinary research that will
become interdisciplinary in the future,” Professor
Hedwig Schwall, General Director of the
centre, tells us.
The centre will focus on three general
fields of research. Irish literature, history and
culture/philosophy will of course be its core
business. “For example, the Royal Irish Academy
has expressed interest in collaborating on
a project related to the digitalisation of old Irish
texts. Contacts have already been established
for the celebration of the Easter Rising in 2016.
We are also endeavouring to establish an Irish
library that will assemble an important collection
in the future.”
Peace studies and conflict management is
the second field. The context of Northern-Ireland
provides many perspectives in this regard,
such as school projects about how to deal with
a strife-torn society. The third field is economics.
“We are especially focusing on international
trade and innovation,” Professor Jan Van Hove,
Economics Research Director, clarifies.
In addition to conducting high-quality
multidisciplinary research within the
K.U.Leuven Association and in Belgium, the
centre is especially keen to stimulate co-operation
with Irish universities and research centres.
To this end, it will organise workshops and
Summer Schools. “For example, in September
we will host a PhD seminar for European students
who are conducting research into Irish literature,
film, music, etc. We have held talks with
the president and prime minister of Ireland
and they support the project fully. This centre
brings far more disciplines together than other
centres of Irish studies because its outlook
goes beyond traditional Irish research themes,”
Professor Van Hove says. The third objective is
to support cultural events, through which for
example theatre and film will be linked to academic
research.
“It is our ambition not only to bring together
the various research disciplines, but also
to intensify co-operation between the various
centres of Irish studies on the continent,” Professor
Schwall concludes. “For example, a central
research institute will be able to organise
a European tour of Irish authors, and the increased
mobility of specialists that teach at various
centres may provide students of Irish Studies
across Europe with a better education.”
“This is a historic moment”
The eminent guests at the inauguration
included not only Ireland’s Minister for Foreign
Affairs Micheál Martin, but also the country’s
most famous poet Seamus Heaney, who graced
the occasion with his eloquence.
Heaney is genuinely honoured to take
part in the opening ceremony of the new Leuven
Centre for Irish Studies. “I decline a lot
of invitations but this is a historic moment.
Archaeology
Seamus Heaney with a group of Leuven students (© Rob Stevens)
The relationship between this college and Ireland
is ancient. After the so-called ‘Flight of
the Earls’ a number of Gaelic lords, scholars,
priests and poets spent the winter of 1607-8
here, while the Franciscans looked after them.
For two centuries after that, Irish learning was
served here by the exiled intelligentsia. You
could draw an analogy with Jews having to
flee from Europe to America in the 1930s. The
Irish college has become a cultural and educational
resource with which some of the most
important, ancient documents of Ireland are
associated. Leuven is part of our intellectual
history.”
Heaney has been called the most important
Irish poet since Yeats and has been honoured
with Whitbread Awards (1987, 1996 and
1999), the David Cohen Prize (2009) and most
notably the Nobel Prize in Literature (1995).
His modesty is thus all the more remarkable.
“Sometimes I seem to forget about the Nobel
Prize, while nobody else does”, he smiles. “Of
course, I can never forget about it completely.
The totally unexpected announcement was as
if Zeus had thundered. I fell, had to pick myself
up again and walk on.”
When we ask Heaney about what has influenced
his work, he immediately thinks of his
riven home land. “In the last forty or fifty years,
there has been a strong poetry tradition in
Northern Ireland. People often link that to The
Troubles but it is actually intimately related to
the talent and the tradition. Nevertheless, during
The Troubles, the poets were a kind of principle
of civility in a distressful, uncivilised situation.
Nowadays, the institutions have changed,
it is a different world, but there are still plenty
of issues to write about.”
He muses on the concept of ‘a good poem’.
“It is a hospitable place you can enter and leave.
A poem can take a snapshot of consciousness
and freeze-frame it, as they say in the language
of film. It must have staying power, so that it can
survive in time but also keep the world off, for a
moment of contemplation or clarification.”
Without hesitation, Heaney calls poetry
the biggest reward in his life. “It was something
magical. I began young at 22 and my first
three books came easily. It was only later that
I felt I had earned the word ‘poet’, Noble Prize
or not. It is a very large word, and still has archaic
force. To be named a poet and feel that
you have some right to it is the real honour and
reward.”
Online
Read the full interview at
http://www.kuleuven.be/ci/
More information at
http://www.irishstudies.kuleuven.be/
Egyptology research
exhibited in Boston
Ines Minten
The Egyptology Research Department is an important contributor to the longest-running
exhibition in the history of the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston.
‘The Secrets of Tomb 10A: Egypt 2000 BC’ displays the treasures
found in the tomb of Djehutynakht, a powerful provincial
governor in ancient Egypt. Over four thousand years ago, as he
prepared his tomb, he collected everything he thought he would
need in the hereafter. In 1915, the American archaeologist George
Reisner excavated the grave in Dayr al-Barsha (Middle-Egypt).
He discovered beautiful sarcophagi and an extensive collection
of grave monuments, which he documented meticulously.
Before the archaeologist arrived, however, grave robbers had
already found and looted the tomb. “As a result, Reisner found
everything in disarray,” Professor Harco Willems says. “Many
things had been torn down and smashed.” For years, all these
treasures were kept in boxes in the cellars of the MFA. “Boxes
full of arms next to boxes full of torsos, ears or legs.” The time
and means necessary to open up and restore all the remains had
never been made available. Until now. As no MFA archaeologists
had been at the site for almost a century, they requested
the Egyptology Research Department to co-operate with them
in the organisation of the exhibition. Just under a century after
Reisner unearthed the tomb, the team from K.U.Leuven followed
in his footsteps as precisely as possible.
Willems has conducted research at the site in Barsha since
1988 and has worked there for K.U.Leuven since 2002. He and his
team are mapping a region that covers a total of forty square kilometres.
In preparation for the exhibition, Marleen De Meyer uncovered
the tomb completely last year in order to make architectural
drawings and a 3D reconstruction of the complex. The team was
very surprised to discover that Reisner had missed something.
“In a forgotten corner of the shaft, we found the remains of
food sacrifices,” De Meyer explains. “They consisted not only of
duck bones, which are not uncommon, but also of the bones of
cranes. Iconography reveals that the ancient Egyptians fattened
cranes in approximately the same way goose liver is produced today,
but it is extremely rare to find crane bones at archaeological
funerary sites. I’m very pleased that we were able to add these
new findings to the exhibition.”
An entire space in the exhibition is devoted to the research
conducted by K.U.Leuven, complete with photos and video installations.
“Of course it is wonderful to see one’s own photographs
enlarged and on display at such an illustrious museum,”
De Meyer says enthusiastically. “The visitors’ reactions have
been unanimously positive. Nearly 175,000 people have already
visited the exhibition. We’re very excited that there is so much
interest in our research.” (The exhibition has been extended until
June 27 by popular demand - ed.)
“We were able to provide the MFA with a very good picture
of the state the tomb must have been in when Reisner discovered
it in 1915. Without our research it would have been extremely
difficult to make the reconstruction. We, in our turn, received
profound insight into their collection. It is an excellent reciprocal
collaboration,” Harco Willems concludes.
Online
http://www.mfa.org/tomb
3

Honorary
doctors 2010
Patron Saint's Day
Jaak Poot
On 2 February 2010, K.U.Leuven conferred
the degree of doctor honoris
causa upon six eminent people. The
Academic Council chose the theme of
‘The Child’ for this year’s celebration.
Radhika Coomaraswamy
Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka) is Special Representative
of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
She is famous for being a human rights activist, particularly
for the rights of children and women in conflict situations. “Fighting
for them is like second nature,” Coomaraswamy says. “When
I get discouraged, I think of the experience of child soldiers and
pick myself back up. Many of these children went through hell
but they continue to be full of hope, life and dynamism.”
“I negotiate with government leaders about the ways they
can bring violence and child abuse to an end, as well as about
facilities for the suitable care of ex-child soldiers. Moreover, I
try to meet with rebels who actively recruit children or commit
violence against them. Some rebels are convinced that they take
very good care of children who have lost their parents in violent
conflicts. When I argue that we are able to provide even better
care for the children, they are usually convinced and let the children
go.”
“The forms of acts of war are changing. This also results in
other forms of the abuse of children in armed conflict. For example,
some insurgents are now using children as suicide commandos.
Sexual violence towards women and children is also increasing.
Of course sexual violence has been used to intimidate
people for a very long time, but it is intensified by the complete
impunity in many regions of the world. That is precisely why it
is so difficult to put a stop
to it.”
“It is very important
that western countries
devote attention to this
problem. This influences
the positions their representatives
take at the
United Nations. In my
opinion, the academic
world also has important
responsibilities in this regard.
It can analyse current
conflicts, provide
insight into terrorism,
the techniques of drug
cartels, etc. From this, professors
may deduce strategies
and methods that
help us to respond more
effectively.”
Christopher Colclough
Professor Christopher Colclough (United Kingdom) is the
Commonwealth Professor of Education and Development and
Director of the Centre for
Education and International
Development at the
University of Cambridge.
His research focuses on
the connection between
providing quality education
for all and the way in
which that education can
serve economic growth.
“Education for all
children is the most direct
way to improve the fate
of the world’s population
that lives in poverty,” Professor
Christopher Colclough
tells us. “Education
stimulates the economy
and results in greater
prosperity and emancipation.”
Radhika Coomaraswamy
(© Rob Stevens)
Christopher Colclough
(© Rob Stevens)
Giacomo Rizzolatti and Vittorio Gallese receive their honorary doctorates from Rector Mark Waer. (© Rob Stevens)
“High quality primary education is not only important as
a social strategy, but also as an economic one. This is especially
true in the case of girls. Research has demonstrated that a higher
level of schooling for women contributes to the increased health
of their families and that they provide better food for their children.
They have fewer children and consider high quality education
to be of greater importance. Unfortunately, there continue
to be too many countries in which parents remove their daughters
from school too early to marry them off or to make them
work.”
“Developed countries in the north must insist more forcefully
on reaching the millennium development goals. Development
aid is our strongest weapon in this regard. But unfortunately,
very few countries actually meet the promised rate of 0.7
percent of their BNP. Too few politicians realise that prosperity
in the north is linked to increased prosperity in southern countries.”
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne (Belgium) are documentary
film makers and film directors who raise fundamental social,
political and pedagogical issues in their multi-award winning
films. Both Rosetta and L’Enfant were awarded the Golden Palm
at the Cannes Film Festival. “Receiving the highest European
cinema accolade is obviously an amazing acknowledgment,”
Jean-Pierre says. “As a result, we have automatic access to the
means we need to continue making our films. But we try to
keep such awards in perspective: they are subjective, momentary
events.”
“It is wonderful, however, that a renowned university is
highlighting the value of fiction film in this way. We are very
proud of this gesture of appreciation. We consider it to be the
recognition from the academic milieu that film is an important
medium for the investigation of the world.”
“We are very interested in the chemistry between the generations.
A child is a promise – the continuation of life. Children
make the world a more enjoyable place to live. We are very interested
in why some generations have good relationships with
one another and why some don’t. We always tell a story about
individuals who have locked themselves up internally but who,
through an encounter
with someone else, are given
the chance to change.
They begin their journeys
alone, but are given the
choice to engage in a relationship
with someone
else.”
“Although there are
two of us, when we make
films, we become one filmmaker.
At a certain point,
we act based on exactly
the same intuitive feeling.
If we ever do contradict
one another, we do so as
part of our attempt to accomplish
the same goal.
Just like an old married
couple. Only one without
any of the problems!”
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
(© Rob Stevens)
Giacomo Rizzolatti
Professor Giacomo Rizzolatti and Professor Vittorio Gallese
(Italy), who work at the Department of Neuroscience at the
Universita degli Studi di Parma, discovered the mirror neuron
system together. Their research contributes to reflection on the
learning processes of children and opened new pathways in the
research of the origins of autism.
“I started by researching the neurology of sight. First, I
observed how apes look at objects,” Professor Rizzolatti says.
“Then we discovered that there is also a motor response to visual
stimuli. This led us to study what happens in the brain when
monkeys pick up objects of various forms and sizes. Only much
later did we notice that there were also motor reactions when
the monkeys observed how we arranged the objects for them,
and even when we were simply handling the objects.”
“I prefer the term ‘mirror mechanisms in the brain’ to ‘mirror
neurons’. They are located in various areas of the brain. The mechanisms
in the motor cortex are directly linked to what one does. If
I see somebody pick up a glass in a café, I know they are likely to
drink from it. The mirror mechanism links one action directly to
the action that usually follows it. The second group is in the part
of the brain that we call the insula, and is related to emotions. If
you see somebody start to cry, mirror mechanisms that instantly
elicit an empathetic reaction start to function in your insula.”
“There is much debate about the third area. Personally, I
am convinced that mirror mechanisms are active in response to
phonological aspects of language. Amongst other things, these
help us to interpret cries and shouts spontaneously. Cognitive
psychologists are often very critical of our discovery. They prefer
complicated interpretations and criticise our theory. Human pathology,
however, proves that we are right.”
Vittorio Gallese
“Based on our observations, we developed our hypothesis
of embodied simulation: an automatic and subconscious process
that aids us to acquire direct access to other people’s worlds,”
Professor Vittorio Gallese says. “This is the foundation of our
social interaction and of empathy because it enables us to read
and interpret the meanings and intentions of other people. Embodied
reaction is not a Pavlovian reaction, however. The way
in which we learn to interpret the behaviour of others is also
involved. Thus, we have shed new light on the importance of the
environment and upbringing of children.”
“The discovery of mirror neurons influences the way in which
we interpret many phenomena. After seventeen years of research,
we are still only at the beginning. Autism is a good example. We
used to think that people with autism lacked spontaneous theoretical
insight into the behaviour of other people. In 2001, however,
precisely the opposite was suggested: in people with autism,
the automatic mechanisms that enable us to feel the intentions of
others do not function properly, which is why they have to learn
theoretical insights to understand those intentions.”
“In her book, a woman with Asperger’s Syndrome writes
that she doesn’t understand spontaneously why children enjoy
themselves at playgrounds. She needed to be given a theoretical
explanation precisely because there was no automatic association
of playing and enjoyment. The problem of autism has not
been solved, but mirror neurons open an entirely new perspective
on insight into autism and its treatment.”
Online
Read the full interviews at http://www.kuleuven.be/ci/
4

International Co-operation
More
international
students
The number of international students at
K.U.Leuven has increased by 15.44 percent
compared to last academic year. 5,078 non-
Belgian students were enrolled in main programmes
on 1 February 2010, while this figure
was only 4,399 on the same date last year.
Our neighbours to the north, the Dutch, are
of course represented most, with no less than
1,111 students. There are other large communities
from China, India, Italy, the US and
Spain. Including the Belgians, a total of 36,923
student enrolments had been processed by
the Registrar’s Office by 1 February. This is an
increase of 5.42 percent compared to last year.
Stars
Researchers of the Institute of Astronomy at
K.U.Leuven have achieved a breakthrough in
the asteroseismological research of SPB stars
(slowly pulsating B-stars). These are heavy
and relatively short-lived stars that play a
key role in the evolution of the universe.
For the first time ever, the researchers have
successfully carried out continuous long-term
observations of a SPB star from space, using
the observation satellite CoRoT. SPB stars
pulsate over long periods of time – from
several hours to several days – which makes
it possible to gather information about the
deep internal structure of the stars.
Diabetes
Group portrait of the rectors and mayors who gathered in Leuven for the 25th anniversary of the Coimbra Group (© Rob Stevens)
Coimbra Group celebrates
its anniversary in Leuven
Network of historic European universities founded 25 years ago
Reiner Van Hove / Ludo Meyvis
The 25th anniversary of the Coimbra Group brought 18 rectors and 10 mayors to
Leuven on 1 February. The network of historic European universities is dedicated to
intense co-operation related to education, research and community engagement.
Researchers of the Laboratory of Ion Channel
Research and the Gene Expression Unit
of the Department of Molecular Cell Biology
have discovered that the protein TRPM5 is
involved in the release of insulin. Mice that
have a defective TRPM5 gene release less
insulin when they are fed and consequently
have higher blood sugar levels after a feeding.
If the researchers are able to develop
medications that increase the activity of
TRPM5, it will be possible to treat diabetes
by increasing the insulin level in the blood
after eating. Moreover, genetic screening
for defective TRPM5 genes in patients may
contribute to outlining a risk profile for the
development of type 2 diabetes.
ECT
Electroconvulsive therapy, abbreviated ECT,
is the oldest biological psychiatric treatment
still in use today. For his doctorate, Pascal
Sienaert researched a new technique with
ultra-short pulses (0.3 milliseconds) and two
different electrode positions. An anti-depressive
effect was clearly observed in all the
patients examined, and the ultra-short pulse
causes fewer cognitive side-effects. Concentration,
storage memory, short-term memory
and long-term memory were all unaffected.
The patients themselves were also pleased
with the results of the treatment. 73% are
satisfied with ECT, and only a quarter would
like to stop the treatment.
In 1985, Simon-Pierre Nothomb of the International Relations
Office of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)
conceived of the idea to exchange experiences with universities
that had similar profiles to the UCL and K.U.Leuven. Representatives
of nine universities accepted his invitation and travelled to
Louvain-la-Neuve and Leuven. “The invitation was sent to longestablished
and comprehensive universities located in typical
university towns,” Professor Guido Langouche (K.U.Leuven), the
current Chair of the Coimbra Group tells us. “They had a number
of the same challenges; they were faced with protecting their historic
patrimony and it was not always easy for them to attract
students since they were unable to rely on the advantages of being
located in capital cities. On the other hand, they were important
contributors to the economic development of their regions.
Due to this shared background, the exchange of experiences did
indeed prove to be extremely fruitful.”
The network was named one year later, when its members
met in the Portuguese town of Coimbra. Another year later, the
group – which had expanded to 20 – was closely involved in the
launch of the Erasmus programme. Langouche: “The members
of Coimbra made it their highest priority. The various international
offices started intense co-operations for the exchanges,
and specific networks were established for a number of fields of
study. The networks for law and economics that were created are
still active today. The result of these efforts is that the 38 Coimbra
universities are currently responsible for 20 percent of the Erasmus
exchanges, while they represent only 1 percent of the total
number of universities in Europe.”
The Coimbra Group is currently striving to influence European
education and research policy through task forces and position
papers. Quality is one of the focal points of this endeavour.
Langouche: “For example, in our most recent position paper, we
condemn the abuse of the term ‘master’. In many countries, this
title is conferred upon the completion of any programme that
follows a Bachelor’s. We emphasise that quality control must be
enforced more widely. The same is true of mobility; academic
tourism may be fun, but if students travel abroad to study, they
have to actually learn something and earn credits for it.”
Langouche is stepping down as chair of the group in June. “In
the past five years, I have continually emphasised that membership
of the Coimbra Group has to bring added value to the members
of the network, through our eight task forces that deal with
specific subjects, among other things. Interest in the group’s annual
conferences has clearly increased; we now host at least half the
rectors at each general meeting. The ‘club’ character of the group
is also important to many of our members; it is always pleasant to
encounter colleagues from other renowned, historic universities.”
This becomes evident when we speak to a number of Coimbra
rectors at the meeting in Leuven. “I receive a lot of post, and
I must confess that I do not read it all, but when a letter from a
Coimbra colleague lands on my desk, I always read it,” Professor
Klaus Dicke, Rector of the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena tells
us. “To be sure, it is not essential to develop a close friendship in
order to establish an institutional co-operation, but it helps.”
“I consider the relatively small scale of Coimbra to be an
important asset. The many exchange projects, publications, summer
schools and annual meetings with colleague rectors ensure
that Coimbra is an important player in the European Higher
Education Area.”
“Within Coimbra, it is possible to exchange ideas and create
co-operation frameworks easily,” Professor Anastasios Manthos,
Rector of the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki agrees. “This
results in better facilities for the exchange of students and researchers.
This is related not only to ad hoc co-operations, but
also to a structural framework. It is palpable that we share values
and that we are faced with similar situations, possibilities and
challenges. I am thus very appreciative of this opportunity to
spend two days here with my colleagues.”
“The fact that we are meeting in Leuven makes the event
all the more beautiful. Thessaloniki is rather larger and older
than Leuven, but I do recognise how interwoven the city and
university are. This is my second visit to Leuven and I enjoy the
atmosphere.”
“Coimbra still has important work to do,” Professor Ferenc
Hudecz, rector of the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest tells
us. “I refer, for example, to the contribution Coimbra can make
to increased participation in higher education. In Europe, this
is approximately fifty percent, but in the Arab world this is only
twenty percent and in Africa, it is no more than five percent. The
Coimbra Group can contribute to raising these figures through
its task forces and internal and external networks.”
Online
http://www.coimbra-group.eu/
5

Research
Revolutionary plate makes flavours dance
Leuven scientists team up with top chef to develop cutting-edge kitchen technology
Henk Van Nieuwenhove
Professor Jeroen Lammertyn and his research team have collaborated with the Dutch top chef Sergio Herman to develop revolutionary
plates with built-in microchips that release the purest taste components onto the plate.
Professor Lammertyn directs a research
centre at the MeBioS Department that specialises
in biosensors. These detectors make it
possible to track disease in the bloodstream,
but they can also be used in food diagnostics.
Nicolas Vergauwe, a bioengineer who is writing
a doctoral dissertation on the subject of medical
and food diagnostics, is actively involved
in this scientific digression to the culinary sector.
“One of the trends in medical and food diagnostics
is miniaturisation,” Professor Jeroen
Lammertyn tells us. “Lab-on-a-chip technology
enables us to use drops of liquid for diagnostic
goals. If it can be used for medical purposes,
why not in gastronomy? The food scientist
Bernard Lahousse put us in touch with Sergio
Herman of the three star restaurant Oud Sluis,
whose gastronomic approach is very similar to
our experiment.”
The result was one of the highlights of
the second edition of The Flemish Primitives,
a culinary conference at which top chefs and
scientists exchange ideas. Lammertyn: “We
have designed a plate with a built-in chip that
makes it possible to move drops of liquid.
Around the food, we placed rows of electrodes
that can transport flavoured droplets. For our
demonstration, we selected a tartar of langoustines
beside a structure of caviar, mussels
and razor clams. Just before he served the dish,
Sergio applied the droplets – with a touch of
bergamot – to the electrodes. The droplets are
activated by small electric pulses and they begin
to move. You can see them jumping across
the plate until they reach the langoustines and
give off their pure taste.”
Obviously, seeing droplets of flavour dancing
across your plate looks spectacular, but
does it add anything to the taste? After all, that
is what matters most at the great temples of
gastronomy. “That is precisely the enormous
power of this concept,” Jeroen Lammertyn
says. “Until now, droplets were made with a
The white stripes are electrodes that transport the
droplets of flavour.
The demonstration plate, created by top chef Sergio
Herman
thickening agent, otherwise the liquid spreads
out all over the plate. This is very frustrating
for chefs because sometimes it takes up to ten
years for their flavours to ripen. If they want
to use these extremely delicate tastes in their
culinary creations, they have to add elements to
them and obviously, this influences their taste.
The chip we use is hydrophobic – water repellent
– which makes the droplets maintain their
bulbous shape. This results in an unbelievably
pure taste that was impossible to achieve previously.”
“In a later phase, it will be possible to operate
this system through wireless communication
from the kitchen. If we replace the rows
of electrodes with a complete matrix, it should
even be possible to adapt the taste to the wishes
of the customer – a few more herbs here, a little
more or less spicy, a dash of lemon there, etc.”
This system is so revolutionary that it
sounds rather like a futuristic dream. How realistic
is the project? And if it is ever commercialised,
will it remain the privilege of three
star restaurants? “The concept is protected by
scientific patent and if all goes well, we will
be able to begin product development in the
next few months,” Lammertyn says. “We have
designed a prototype that we will continue to
refine and test at the Oud Sluis, in collaboration
with Sergio Herman. We may be able to
introduce consumers to the device before the
end of 2010, though it remains uncertain if it
will ever be developed for the general market.
If a large tableware company expresses interest,
however, the plates may be on the way to
your dining room very soon.” Meanwhile, you
can watch a video of the dancing droplets on
the MeBioS research centre’s website.
Online
http://www.biosensors.be/
flemish-primitives.aspx
Professor Jeroen Lammertyn, bioengineer Nicolas Vergauwe and top chef Sergio Herman
(© Michel Vanneuville)
Students
New fund supports
international students
of science
Benedict Vanclooster
Starting next academic year, the best international students may apply for a scholarship
to enrol in a Master’s programme at the Faculty of Science.
The scholarships are financed by the recently established
Science@Leuven Fund, which is named after the general alumni
association for Leuven’s science students. “The five associations
that cover the various scientific disciplines, the faculty, the various
science departments and the general student association
Scientica all joined forces to support the fund and have raised
the starting capital in co-operation with the Leuven University
Fund and Leuven Research and Development,” Professor Peter
Lievens, Dean of the Faculty of Science tells us.
The fund will make one or possibly two scholarships available
next academic year. This number will gradually be increased
when the fund’s operations gain momentum in the future. “The
scholarships are intended for talented and motivated international
students who enrol for one of our English-language
Master’s programmes,” Lievens says. “For the past few years,
each scientific discipline has been offering an English-language
equivalent to almost all the Dutch programmes. Over the coming
years, we will endeavour to attain an equal division of students
with scholarships across the various Master’s programmes.”
The architects of this fund are Professor Jan Beirlant, former
Dean of the Faculty of Science and currently Vice Rector for the
Kortrijk Campus, Pol Bamelis, former Alumni Chair of Science@
Leuven, and Professor Joris Winderickx, Head of Internationalisation
at the Faculty of Science. “They found that international
students do in fact take the possibility of receiving a scholarship
into account during their first screening of prospective universities,”
Lievens says. “A scholarship system contributes to attracting
especially the best students.”
The fund is intended to recruit the very best science students
from abroad. The candidates will all have to take part in a
selection procedure. “Based on the students’ results, a committee
of representatives from each programme will rank the students
across the various scientific disciplines. The candidates must also
be able to present letters of recommendation from international
professors with insight in the students’ skills. In the final stage
of the procedure, an electronic interview will be conducted to
assess the students’ motivation to come and study in Leuven,”
Lievens explains.
“By attracting the best new international students we can
continue to raise the bar of our Master’s programmes,” Lievens
continues. “Our group of doctoral students is very international
already, which increases the quality of our research.”
The Science@Leuven Fund appeals to both businesses and
private citizens for donations. Financing one of its scholarships
for one year costs eight thousand euro. “This figure covers the
expenses of one student to live in Leuven for a year,” Lievens
concludes. Private people or companies that finance a scholarship
for two consecutive years may lend it their name. They will
also be invited to award the scholarship to its holder personally.
Whoever donates at least eight hundred euro will be mentioned
in the publications and at the events organised by the Faculty
of Science.
More information
http://wet.kuleuven.be/english/
scienceatleuvenscholarship/
6

Alumni
K.U.Leuven launches association for Chinese
alumni
Reiner Van Hove
On 5 and 6 March, the foundation of
the K.U.Leuven China Alumni Club was
celebrated in Beijing and Shanghai. It
is the first university-wide alumni association
that covers a whole country.
The alumni association is the most recent of a series of initiatives
K.U.Leuven has taken in China in the past few years. For
example, it has concluded bilateral co-operation agreements with
a number of top universities in China and in 2007, a comprehensive
institutional accord was signed with Tsinghua University.
China is the second best represented country in Leuven’s
international student community after the Netherlands; about
450 Chinese students enrolled this year. “Our objective is not
necessarily to increase that figure, but rather to profile ourselves
better in order to continuously attract the best students and researchers,”
Bart Hendrickx, Director of the International Office
tells us. “You can establish all kinds of complex systems to this
end, but social networks continue to be the most efficient way,”
Professor Bart De Moor, Vice Rector for International Policy
adds. “I know this from personal experience. Many of my doctoral
students found positions at Stanford as a result of the contacts
I have there. If we track down our alumni in China successfully
and develop good relations with them, they can assist us with the
selection of new students and researchers.”
“Our alumni could also be involved in guiding professors
from Leuven who travel to China for short periods of time, as
well as facilitating the access of our spin-offs to the Chinese market
and of our researchers to Chinese research centres. This requires
people who know the local do’s and don’ts.”
“The Chinese attach great importance to networks,” Hendrickx
says. “That is why Chinese alumni are also able to benefit
from the excellent reputation K.U.Leuven is developing in their
country: being affiliated with high quality increases their own
market value.” Professor De Moor makes a comparison to the
US: “Americans consider the university they studied at to be a
real asset on their CV. They are very proud of being able to say
they are an alumnus of Yale or Berkeley, etc. We have a lot of
room for improvement with respect to identity and branding.
We have to find the aspects of K.U.Leuven that a Chinese alumnus
would recommend to his/her children.”
The China Alumni Club provides an umbrella structure
for the existing alumni associations in Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou and other places. The association will co-operate
with the Belgian Embassy in Beijing, the consulates in Shanghai
and Guangzhou, the Benelux Chamber of Commerce in China
and the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce in China. David
Xu, who is himself an alumnus of K.U.Leuven, will co-ordinate the
China Alumni Club. Hendrickx: “He is meeting with a number of
alumni in the next few months to explore the ways in which they
can concretise their commitment and which duties will be entrusted
to them. There is also an online database through which
Bart Hendrickx, Director of the International Office of K.U.Leuven, addresses the alumni in Beijing.
members can register. In the next stage, we can start ‘nurturing’
the network with the most appropriate information.”
At the launch of the club at the beginning of March, it was
apparent that many alumni are interested. Hendrickx: “About
fifty alumni attended in Beijing and there were about eighty in
Shanghai, including a few Flemish alumni who live there. It was
a good mix, but we need to promote more interaction between
the Chinese and Flemish groups.”
Xu’s responsibilities extend beyond the co-ordination of the
alumni association. Hendrickx: “He has been tasked with strengthening
K.U.Leuven’s position in China in the broadest sense. China
evolves incredibly quickly and you need a permanent representative
in the field if you want to successfully maintain your reputation
as an illustrious research university. For example, he has
to draw attention to the position of K.U.Leuven in various rankings
– these are of enormous importance to top Chinese universities,
for the selection of their partners. Moreover, we expect Xu
to assist the development of existing co-operations with Chinese
partner universities. A fine example of this is the seminar about
technology transfer and spin-off creation that we are organising
with our Chinese partners for the World Fair in Shanghai.”
“The situation in China is of course part of a broader policy,”
Professor De Moor concludes. “In these times of globalisation,
our perspective must be intercontinental and we should thus
also explore new initiatives in other parts of the world – in Latin
America, for example.”
Online
http://www.kuleuven.be/international/chinalumni
“Leuven was unforgettable”
If it aims to promote a sense of pride amongst its members,
the China Alumni Club could not have a better co-ordinator than
David Xu. Without hesitation, he describes his stay in Leuven as
the most wonderful time of his life: “My father studied medicine
in Leuven and later obtained a PhD supervised by Professor Edward
Carmeliet. He encouraged me to study in Leuven as well,
for the benefit of my personal development and my career. He
hoped that I might be of importance to Belgium and China in
my professional life. My own time in Leuven – I studied the postgraduate
in Human Settlements – was unforgettable: it was hard
work but a lot of fun as well.”
The wish of Xu’s father has come true: his son represents
the Flemish company Egemin in China and he is now also the
representative of K.U.Leuven: “Leuven already has a good reputation
here when it comes to research and technology transfer.
I hope I can expand that good name through the network of
social contacts that I have established in the government, at
universities and in the media. I have already contacted the partner
universities to ask if they can organise a K.U.Leuven Day
or Weekend to introduce Leuven to Chinese students. We have
also planned a number of activities for the Shanghai World
Fair, which will undoubtedly give Leuven’s image a considerable
boost as well.”
“I also intend to organise alumni meetings once a month, in
different cities. My main goal is to foster a family reunion feeling
amongst the alumni, but I also want to appeal to their networks
to spread information about K.U.Leuven.”
Alumni
Bioscience Engineering
successfully represented
in Latin America
The Network of Resident Representatives (NoRR), launched
by the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering one year ago, is a
success. Alumni and students in five Latin American countries
serve as ambassadors of the faculty.
“Latin America was the obvious choice
for a pilot project,” Dean Pol Coppin tells us.
“K.U.Leuven is not as well represented there as
in Asia and Africa. Moreover, I worked in Bolivia,
Peru and Nicaragua for many years. During
my time there, I often encountered people who
were all too happy to serve as ambassadors.”
It came as no surprise then, that the faculty
had no trouble finding candidates. “For
the past year, the project has operated with
nine representatives in South America and the
results have motivated us to pursue it further,”
Matt Tips, head of external relations tells us. “A
number of ambassadors are Flemish alumni or
students who live in the host countries, the others
are Latin American alumni of our university.
When we launched the pilot project, we organised
workshops in Lima and Sao Paulo and
we continue to support the project through a
newsletter and website.”
According to Coppin, the network is a
cheap and efficient way to represent the university
locally: “Our ambassadors travel to education
fairs to provide information about Master’s
programmes and doctorates at K.U.Leuven.
They also conduct preliminary interviews and
test the language proficiency of candidates for
our programmes. Furthermore, the representatives
are the first points of contact for researchers
from Leuven and Latin America who are
interested in co-operations with one another.
They are also able to receive students, researchers
and professors from Leuven who travel to
Latin America and assist them during their first
few days there; helping them to find accommodation,
for example.”
“They also function as our eyes in their
countries,” Tips adds. “They inform us of projects
that companies or research centres establish
that may be of interest to K.U.Leuven. The representatives
also accompany us to negotiations
with partner universities. For example, Riet
Ysebaert was involved in the discussions concerning
the agreement we concluded with the
Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) in Temuco,
Chile in December 2009. Starting in the 2011-
2012 academic year, our students may choose
the Forestry Production specialisation and travel
to Chile for a semester to gain practical experience.
Furthermore, there is intense co-operation
between the International Potato Center in
Lima and the banana gene bank at our Division
of Crop Biotechnics. They each have the world’s
largest collection of their respective species.”
Online
http://www.biw.kuleuven.be/verenigingen/
NoRR/
7

Low voices
(© Rob Stevens)
Buddy jump
(© Rob Stevens)
In mid-April, the renowned voice coach Kristin Linklater came to Leuven to run
workshops for vocal pedagogists, speech therapists, actors and singers, amongst
others. Kristin Linklater is an actress and head of the drama department at
Columbia University in New York. She has written books on ‘Freeing the natural
voice’ and ‘Freeing Shakespeare’s voice’. Her work is designed to liberate the
natural function of the vocal mechanism. Her visit took place in the context of a
collaborative project between the Royal Academy for Fine Arts, the Lemmensinstituut
Leuven and the Centre of Excellence for Voice at K.U.Leuven.
In March, the International Office of K.U.Leuven organised an INTERnational
Students Week in co-operation with Loko International and Pangaea. All kinds of
activities took place for and by international and Flemish students. Among other
things, the programme featured a Brazilian evening, a Congolese film, an Indian
Holi festival, a ‘Model United Nations’ debate and a free mic night. On Saturday,
20 March, a buddies day was organised: international students and their Leuven
‘buddies’ visited the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren.
http://www.kuleuven.be/orientationdays/buddy.html
500 words
“Emergency aid in times of crisis
appeals to me the most”
Rob Stevens
Lucas Steverlynck, a student of
medicine in his final year, travelled
to Haiti in January to administer
first aid to victims of the earthquake.
“I have been a member of B-Fast (The Belgian fast intervention
service for first aid in disaster areas – ed.) for two years, as
the only student of medicine. I have more time to participate
in activities like this now than I will have in ten years, for example,
when I will be part of a team with less flexible hours.
Moreover, I am simply very interested in emergency medical
care. I will begin my specialisation studies in that field next
year.”
“Development aid is also an interest of mine. Four years
ago, I travelled to Burkina Faso to work in a hospital, though I
was really there to learn more than to contribute. It is the combination
of emergency medicine and development aid that led
me to B-Fast. Of course, it is always somewhat of a challenge to
provide efficient assistance to people in times of crisis and yet
this is the type of aid that appeals to me the most. This is also
the reason I joined the voluntary fire brigade.”
“The morning after the earthquake in Haiti, I received an
SMS asking whether I was available. I received another message
later that day to say that I would be allowed to go. I didn’t
have much time to think twice about anything because I had
to take the earliest possible train to Kortrijk, pack my things in
under half an hour and rush to the military base in Peutie.”
“Upon our arrival in Haiti, we unloaded the aeroplane
and went in search of a good place to pitch our tents. We had
to find a safe location because there was a severe shortage of
food and water – we were rationing our water too – and we
had been warned about marauding gangs. As a result, we slept
at the airport for the first four nights, until the special forces
of the Belgian army arrived and it was safe for us to stay at
the camp.”
“Practicing medicine in disaster areas is completely different
than the kind of work I was used to: there are extremely
limited means in the first few days. Treating a pelvic fracture,
for example, consisted of tying a towel around the pelvis and
administering painkillers and a lot of liquid. In short, ensuring
that the pelvis was stable and preventing as much blood loss
as possible. Afterwards, we just sent the patient home to rest
– to the extent that they still had a home to go to – and hoped
that the bones grew back together. That was really all we could
do at the time. Complex orthopaedic operations were out of
the question – there was no radiology, no possibility to analyse
blood, etc.”
“That is one aspect of emergency medical care. In many
other cases, it is of course possible to step in and save lives.
For example, amputations were conducted and deep wounds
were cleaned and disinfected in a very basic operation theatre.
Without these interventions, the patients concerned would
most certainly have died. Emergency aid is thus extremely important
and helpful.”
“I would like to emphasise that not all the work has been
completed now the B-Fast teams are back in Belgium. For a
long time to come, it will be crucial that we do not abandon
Haiti either with respect to logistics or medical aftercare.”
Lucas Steverlynck (© Rob Stevens)