STICHTING KEMPENHAEGHE

Their core work

Kempenhaeghe is a specialized Dutch clinical center focused on epilepsy, sleep disorders, and neurological conditions. In H2020 projects, they serve as a clinical partner providing real-world patient data, clinical validation environments, and domain expertise in neurology and brain disorders. Their participation bridges medical care with emerging sensor technologies and health monitoring systems, offering project consortia direct access to patient populations and clinical workflows where new technologies can be tested and validated.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Kempenhaeghe's H2020 trajectory shows a shift from technology-supporting roles toward disease-specific clinical research. Their earliest project (ASTONISH, 2016) placed them in a large digital/sensor consortium focused on smart optical imaging for health applications. By 2020, their participation split into two directions: deeper clinical research on specific neurological conditions (BIND, focused on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and brain involvement) and continued sensor technology work with a stronger human monitoring angle (NextPerception). The trend suggests they are increasingly valued not just as a clinical test site, but as a knowledge partner in understanding complex neurological conditions.

Kempenhaeghe is moving toward combining their deep neurological expertise with AI and advanced sensor technologies, positioning them for projects where clinical neuroscience meets digital health.

How they like to work

Kempenhaeghe operates exclusively as a participant, never leading consortia — consistent with their role as a clinical partner contributing domain expertise and patient access rather than managing large research programs. Their 82 unique partners across 13 countries indicate they join large, multi-partner consortia (particularly ECSEL-type projects with dozens of participants). This makes them a reliable, low-friction partner who brings clinical credibility without competing for project leadership.

With 82 unique consortium partners across 13 countries from just 3 projects, Kempenhaeghe operates within large European consortia. Their network is broad but likely driven by the large ECSEL-RIA projects rather than deep bilateral relationships.

What sets them apart

Kempenhaeghe occupies a rare niche: a specialized clinical care center for epilepsy and neurological disorders that actively participates in advanced technology projects. Unlike university hospitals that contribute broadly, Kempenhaeghe brings focused expertise in specific patient populations (epilepsy, Duchenne, sleep disorders) combined with willingness to integrate emerging technologies like AI-driven sensors into clinical practice. For consortium builders, they offer something hard to find — a clinical partner that understands both the medical science and the technology development process.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BIND
  Their largest funded project (€303K), focused on a specific and underserved clinical area — brain involvement in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy — combining deep phenotyping with gene therapy research.
• NextPerception
  Demonstrates their cross-domain value: a clinical institution contributing to an advanced sensor technology project involving radar, lidar, edge computing, and explainable AI for human monitoring.