Eris Sistermans receives the Impact Award for the further development and application of the NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal Test). The NIPT blood test offers pregnant women a more reliable and safer alternative for early detection of chromosomal abnormalities in the foetus than before. NIPT has made its predecessor, the so-called combination test, completely obsolete. Sistermans: “That combination test provided odds as if a woman went to the casino for a prenatal test. The NIPT almost always gives a clear result right away.” Sistermans is now developing the blood test further into a broad test for a healthy pregnancy: “For example, in the near future we will be able to predict preeclampsia, and viral infections that can be dangerous for both mother and child. Early detection means that we can then treat those already during pregnancy.”

Joyeeta Gupta focuses her research on climate justice, environmental management and sustainable development. Solutions to environmental and climate issues are not easy due to the problematic relationship between North and South, rich and poor. International, but also in the Netherlands itself: “Inequality is also a big problem here; poor people who cannot afford an electric car or solar panels are sometimes compensated for their high fossil energy bill. But actually they should get subsidies to move away from fossil.”

Gupta’s mission is to make consumers and producers aware of their emissions and their responsibility to others who suffer globally. Impact made Gupta at the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) integrated social justice into its environmental reporting for the first time in 2019. This includes UNEP looking at issues such as land and water grabbing and the broader health effects of polluted water.

Tessa Roseboom is doing long-term research on the effects of the 1944-1945 Hunger Winter. She showed that the environment in which people develop from a single fertilized egg into a complete human being is the foundation. This so-called 1000-day study provided the first direct evidence that (lack of) maternal nutrition during pregnancy affects the physical and mental health of her children and grandchildren. Based on her current research, Roseboom advocates investing in a good start to every human life. In the Netherlands, this is done with the national program “Kansrijke Start. It is also relevant internationally: “If you look now at Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza, there are still many people who do not get the chance to develop their potential. And they suffer from that for life.”

Internationally, Roseboom made an impact by providing input to the United Nations Declaration for Future Generations. In all decisions, UN member states must consider their impact on children’s environment. Because a good start for them is essential for their later life and well-being.

Jaap Seidell set up the Health Sciences program at VU University twenty years ago. His research focused on nutrition, health and prevention and care for obesity and type 2 diabetes in the Netherlands. With a common thread being a healthier environment for youth. Chronic diseases of affluence start already in childhood, due to unhealthy food but also due to lack of knowledge and money in families where children grow up. Information and prevention are essential. Seidell has devoted his entire career to this, with numerous Amsterdam programs, but also nationwide. His insights have been translated into programs such as Healthy School Canteens and the National Prevention Agreement (sugar tax) and stricter food marketing rules for children.

“An enormous amount of high-quality and innovative research is being done at our Amsterdam knowledge institutions. That is a broad basis for having a lot of impact on society. But that impact does not come naturally. For an Impact Award, we look at researchers who make extra efforts. They make long-term, active contributions to the actual use of insights and results from their research. To this end, they collaborate with public and/or private parties and organizations. We see this in all four: through their efforts, society benefits from their insights and research results. This clearly makes them role models for other researchers within the knowledge institutions.”