Health Research

Support research that sets out to find answers to unmet needs and social challenges in healthcare.

Progress in medicine doesn't just appear out of thin air: every stride forward is preceded by long and expensive years of research. Hard work that opens the door to new interventions that stand to benefit both patients and those around them. Thanks to the resources made available by philanthropists, the King Baudouin Foundation is able to support health research at both the Belgian and European level, on top of government investments and in partnership with both public and private actors.

Our actions

  • We support health research and award grants to researchers active in a range of fields: rare illnesses, cancer, neurology, cardiology, rheumatology and much more.
  • We encourage research into rare illnesses, thanks in part to the significant resources made available by the Generet Fund. Every year, this Fund awards a prize of one million euros to a pioneering researcher.
  • We encourage niche research that is not financed by other partes, with a particular focus on innovation and added value.

Health research is part of the programme Health

Calls for projects

GENeHOPE - M.D. training in research on genetic diseases

Training of an M.D. in genetic research

Soon to be closed!

GENeHOPE - research on genetic diseases

Support to basic & translational research on genetic diseases

Soon to be closed!

Research in the field of polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis

Research in the field of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) in Belgium.

Selection announced

Grantees

Université catholique de Louvain

Innovative strategies against multispecies biofilms infections of the lung: combinations of antibiotics with phages and/or mucolytic agents

Project of Françoise Van Bambeke supported by the Fund A & J Forton and muco.be : 'Lung infection in CF are difficult to treat because of resistance and biofilm-related toler…

Université catholique de Louvain

Myo-inositol/SMIT1 axis: a novel pathway to prevent of treat heart failure

Study by A. Marino: Growing body of evidence associate changes in cardiac metabolism to the pathogenesis and progression of heart failure. Plasmatic myo-inositol is high in patie…

Université catholique de Louvain

Bestuderen moleculaire mechanismen rond eiwitacetylatie/diabetische cardiomyopathie / Étude des mécanismes moléculaires liés à l'acétylation des protéines/la cardiomyopathie diabétique

Study by L. Bultot: Diabetes is a growing epidemic affecting a large part of the population and is a significant public health challenge. In addition to vascular defects, diabeti…

Events

Award ceremony 5th Prize Generet into rare diseases

16/02/2023 17:30 until 16/02/2023 21:00

Award Ceremony of the 5th Generet Prize for Rare Diseases

Award ceremony - laureates 2022 Funds for health research

05/10/2023 10:30 until 05/10/2023 12:30

Award ceremony - Laureates 2022 of the Funds for health research

Funds and philanthropic tools

Gezusters Loosveldt (Fonds)

The Fund Gezusters Loosveldt support research on hematologic cancers in adults.

Generet Rare Diseases (Fonds)

A prestigious award for research in rare diseases in Belgium

Press Releases

The second Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics awarded

30 07 2024

The international and independent jury, appointed by the King Baudouin Foundation, has selected the pioneering work on the False Discovery Rate (FDR) as the recipient of the pres…

Mental Health Research Mapping

KBF releases 4 million euro for mental health research

16 02 2024

The KBF is setting up the Fund for Mental Health Research to map mental health research in Belgium.

Over 6 million euros allocated to health research

06 10 2023

In 2022, 60 Funds dedicated to scientific medical research allocated a total of 6.6 million euros to 72 research projects.

Stories

From asthma research to better treatment for cystic fibrosis complications?

Health Research

"When we see a patient whose cystic fibrosis is deteriorating, it is often hard to identify the cause. There is a need for better diagnosis of allergic reactions to fungi."
Dr Eva Van Braeckel
Pulmonologist (UGent and UZ Gent)

Pancreatic cancer: gradually untangling a complex knot

Health Research

“In families where there are more cases of pancreatic cancer, we are also seeing an association with colon and breast cancer.”
Prof. Kathleen Claes
UGent, Lab for Cancer Predisposition and Precision Oncology

New perspective on DNA variations leads to explanation for rare disease

Health Research

“We have shown that it is also worthwhile to look at the variants just before and just after genes.”
Prof. Eric Legius
Head of Centre for Human Genetics UZ Leuven