Breath by breath - running the IRONMAN® to raise awareness of tuberculosis
We discover new things about staff and students every day at our faculty. That Kim is working on a non-invasive test for kidney cancer. That Christian provides solid evidence-based health tips for mindfulness. And that Lucas, a Human Movement Sciences student, is competing in the IRONMAN® European Championship to raise awareness of tuberculosis.
When two passionate minds meet, great things can happen. A few months ago during a Maastricht Social Run, Human Movement Sciences student Lucas ran across Juan, an alumnus of Governance and Leadership in European Public Health. A conversation about training for the IRONMAN® European Championship and working for the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation led to a partnership to help raise international awareness of tuberculosis, one of the deadliest infectious global diseases.
A chance encounter
During his first master’s in Health Education and Promotion Lucas founded the Social Run Club Maastricht to promote a healthy lifestyle among students. Lucas: “It’s a free run where everyone can join. During one of the runs, I met Juan who joined us for the first time. He started talking about tuberculosis (TB) and his work at the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and I talked about my training schedule for IRONMAN®.” Juan saw an opportunity and suggested using IRONMAN® as a platform to help raise awareness of tuberculosis.
“Even though I have a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, my knowledge of tuberculosis was limited. Before agreeing to a partnership I researched the disease.” The most striking fact for Lucas was that TB is still the deadliest infectious disease in the world causing 1,3 million deaths yearly (WHO – Global Tuberculosis Report 2023). “This disease must be tackled on multiple levels because nobody is safe until everyone is safe. I met with Juan and the organisation again to set up the collaboration.”
Breath by breath
“The Dutch KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation aims to end tuberculosis in the world, and focuses on: tuberculosis and related health problems, antimicrobial resistance and pandemics. Part of our strategic approach is to disseminate knowledge; we aim to distribute knowledge on TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and overall care. The IRONMAN® competition is internationally renowned and attracts a large audience. It’s a perfect platform for Lucas to draw attention to our organisation.”
Lucas will wear sports gear provided by KNCV with their branding and tagline ‘Together we can end TB’, accompanied by a quote they used earlier in this campaign ‘breath by breath’. Lucas: “That’s what I will be doing during the IRONMAN®, breathe through an exhausting and estimated 11-12 hours to finish the IRONMAN®. Hopefully, when people see me wearing the KNCV gear, they will approach me and start a conversation.”
Lucas feels ready for the IRONMAN® and can count on the support of everyone at KNCV, especially Juan. “Sometimes we are in the right place at the right time. I joined the Social Run Club to train for an awareness-raising run for TB. Meeting Lucas who is willing to support our cause as an athlete is amazing. I will definitely be standing at the finish line to cheer on Lucas when he finishes.”
Text: Ruben Beeckman
Also read
-
The research institutes M4I and MERLN, both part of Maastricht University (UM), are to become partners in a new national collaboration as of 1 January 2025. The Nijmegen-based laser and magnet lab HFML-FELIX will become an NWO Institute under the umbrella of the Foundation for Dutch Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I) from that date. The two Maastricht institutes will act as official partners in this unique, large-scale scientific infrastructure in the Netherlands. In addition to NWO, Radboud University and UM, five other universities are involved in this special partnership.
-
Two researchers from Maastricht University (UM) have received a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council. This will allow them to set up a scientific research team in the coming years for studies on bioprinted models of a human kidney and on female guest workers from southern Europe who came to north-western Europe in the second half of the 20th century.
-
Julien was admitted at the last second for the Medicine bachelor. A turning point that led him to research perihilar cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and specific type of bile duct cancer at MUMC+.
