NWO rewards 3 research proposals: on prenatal anxiety, healthier food intake and genetic disorders

Three NWO Veni's for researchers at Tilburg University on prenatal anxiety on mother-infant synchronity, vlogging for a healthier food intake, and data analysis to determine the cause of genetic disorders.

Prenatal anxiety on mother-infant neural synchronity

Dr. Marion van den Heuvel, who works at the dept. of Cognitive Neuropsychology (TSB), received an NWO Veni grant for her research on the effects of mother’s anxiety during pregnancy on mother-infant neural synchrony. Not all mothers naturally connect with their infant after birth. Marion will examine under which circumstances brains of mother and infant become synchronized and how synchronization may become disturbed when mothers suffer from prenatal anxiety. Results of this project will have implications for families, society, and policy makers.

Vlogging for a healthier food intake

Dr. Frans Folkvord (dept. Communication and Cognition, TSHD) received a Veni for research into vlogging for a healthier food intake. Nowadays, children consume insufficient fruit and vegetables, that eventually causes multiple chronic diseases. Frans will develop and investigate a new overarching theoretical model that explains and predicts whether, how, when, and for whom food-promotion techniques increase children’s fruit and vegetables intake, both on the short- and long-term.

Data analysis to identify the cause of genetic disorders

Dr. Marleen Balvert (dept. Econometrics & Operations Research, TiSEM) will conduct research into the cause of genetic disorders, a mathematical optimisation, as of 1 September 2019. Many incurable diseases have a genetic cause. Researchers around the world are currently generating many large genome datasets to track down the cause of these diseases. This research aims at developing data analysis techniques to identify the relationship between genetics and disease that lie hidden in these datasets.

NWO Veni

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) today announced that 166 promising young scientists will receive Veni funding of up to € 250,000. This allows the laureates to further develop their own research ideas over a period of three years.