ZonMw consortium grant for Thijs Eijsvogels

4 April 2018

The ZonMw Sport and Physical Activity Research Programme aims to strengthen multidisciplinary research in the field of sport and physical activity. A nation-wide consortium, led by Thijs Eijsvogels, received a grant of €420,000 for their project: Thermo Tokyo: Beat the Heat.

The 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will be held in the midst of Tokyo’s summer, characterized by hot (>30°C) and humid (>75% relative humidity) climatic conditions: this will result in the most challenging environmental conditions ever observed in the modern history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Apart from the external thermoregulatory burden (i.e. solar radiation, ambient temperature and humidity), exercise is another important source of heat production. The combination of environmental heat stress and exercise-induced heat production will exceed the body’s heat dissipating capabilities, resulting in profound core body temperature elevations and an associated loss of exercise performance.
 
For this purpose, 3 universities (Radboudumc, Vrije Universiteit, Delft University of Technology), 1 university of applied sciences (HAN), 4 companies (myTemp, Sizing Science, Inuteq, Magic Marine) 7 sports organizations (NOC*NSF, KNZB, KNWU, NTB, KNHB, Atletiekunie, Watersportverbond) and 4 national Sportinnovator centers (Papendal / Topsport Expertise & Innovation Centre Limburg / Sailing Innovation Center / TUD) jointly expressed the objective to allow safe and optimal performance for Olympic and Paralympic athletes exercising in the heat. To achieve this goal, the team will perform four inter-related projects to allow Dutch athletes to ‘beat the heat’.

Thijs Eijsvogels is member of the theme Vascular damage.