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1 min read
Happy International Women's Day 2025!
Most of the wonderful people in my group are women. Samira Chatila, Alexandra Ciausescu, Lou van Hooff, and Yara Dixon. They are smart,...


3 min read
An exhibition to create awareness about plasma donation: "The power of plasma. Pass it on!"
Sanquin collaborated with museum Boerhaave, to create a small exhibition on plasma and plasma donation called “The power of plasma!"

1 min read
NWO Impact Explorer Grant
The NWO Impact Explorer Grant is awarded to members of the TRACER consortium: Sjaak Philipsen, Eva-Maria Merz and Lou van Hooff.

1 min read
ERC Proof-of-Concept grant for Eva-Maria Merz and Alexandra Ciausescu
Eva and Alexandra will receive an ERC PoC grant for the Learning to Donate project (LEARN-DO)

2 min read
A goodbye and a new challenge
After almost 7 years, Marloes Spekman will be leaving the research group behind for a new challenge at Sanquin.


1 min read
Blood Donor Incentives across 63 Countries: The BEST Collaborative Study
Here you can read a quick summary of blood donor incentives around the world.

5 min read
Research wrapped 2023!
Let’s wrap up 2023! It was a very busy and exiting year. Read here what our team achieved in 2023!

2 min read
The Powerbank Experience
To fulfil the increasing need for more plasma collections, the Powerpank in Utrecht was developed. Read here what we learned so far!

1 min read
A night of new insights and cohesion at the West Best Talkshow
Eva-Maria Merz was invited as a guest speaker at the West Best Talkshow to enlighten the residents about blood donation.

1 min read
A bloody nice evening
Dr. Eva-Maria Merz organinzes "A bloody nice evening" in collaboration with Pakhuis de Zwijger. With a diverse program about blood donation.

2 min read
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave pop-up exhibition: The power of plasma!
The Boerhaave museum hosts a new pop-up exhibition about the power of plasma! In addition, Dr. Eva-Maria Merz will give a Stokvis Lecture.


2 min read
Work and play: Our writing retreat in Limburg
Our research team went on a writing retreat in Limburg to get away from the office and focus on writing and team-building.


2 min read
Blood, it runs in the family: How Families Can Shape the Future of Blood Donation
New research provides insights in how familiy influence matters for shaping future blood donors and how blood banks play into this.


2 min read
European Conference on Donor Health and Management: our experiences
Our donor research team attended the ECDHM in Vienna where we presented our findings and learned a lot from international colleagues.


4 min read
“I Don’t Like It, But I Learned A Lot” How can serious games prepare the next generation of donors?
We developed and tested a serious game at NEMO Science Live to increase awareness on plasma donation and prepare next generations of donors.

1 min read
The social contagion of prosocial behaviour: How neighbourhood blood donations influence individual
Research findings on how neighourhood blood donations can influence an individual

1 min read
Inaugural lecture Eva-Maria Merz
Eva-Maria has been appointed full professor of Donor Behavior at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The...


1 min read
How can we convince more people to answer donation solicitations?
Solicitations for donations are a highly effective tool that many organizations use to elicit donations of blood, time, or money.


1 min read
Is blood donation contagious?
Joris, Eva, Bianca and Pamala research if individuals can"be infected" with blood donation behaviour by their social group.


1 min read
How public trust and healthcare quality shape blood donation behavior?
Although blood donation takes place in a medical setting within the larger healthcare system, little is known about how (perceptions of)...
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