Published on September 27th 2018 – Gert-Jan de Bruijn has been awarded a grant from ZonMw and Diabetes Foundation within the Diabetes breakthrough programme call. The main purpose of this call is to fund innovative research that can lead to breakthrough results for curing or preventing diabetes type II. Together with Nynke van der Laan, Sanne de Wit, Jos Bosch, Richard Ijzerman, and Reinout Wiers, Gert-Jan will develop a virtual reality trainingsapp that will train people to do healthy grocery shopping even under various levels of temptations (such as hunger and marketing of unhealthy foods). The effects of this training will be tested for its effectiveness in both a virtual reality as a real-life supermarket. After completion of the project, the training app will be made available (amongst others) via Digital Communication Methods Lab (http://www.digicomlab.eu). The proposal is the only communication-science oriented project to receive a grant. The grant is worth 100.000 euros.
More informatie about the project can be found here (in Dutch): https://www.diabetesfonds.nl/wat-we-doen/alle-onderzoeken/verleidingen-weerstaan-met-virtual-reality
More information about these breakthrough projects can be found here (in Dutch): https://www.diabetesfonds.nl/over-diabetes/nieuws/twee-miljoen-voor-onderzoeken-diabetes-type-2