Merel M. van Gilst

Merel M. van Gilst is an Assistant Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), affiliated with the Signal Processing Systems group within the Department of Electrical Engineering. Her work bridges technical advancements in sleep monitoring devices and clinical applications, focusing on sleep disorders and Parkinson’s disease. She leads the advanced sleep monitoring group with Prof. Sebastiaan Overeem and collaborates with the sleep expertise center Kempenhaeghe.

Education:

• PhD in Neurology (Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, 2016)
• Master’s in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience (Utrecht University, 2011)

Research Interests: Clinical application of new technologies for sleep monitoring, REM sleep behavior disorder, sleep stage analysis, wearable EEG devices, and transfer learning in healthcare diagnostics. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through improved sleep medicine and patient care.

Projects:

• MEDEIA (Medical Engineering Innovations, 2022–2027)
• MEDUSA (Medical Data Solutions, 2020–2026)
• OP-SLEEP EEG Patch Development (2019–2023)

Grants & Collaborations: Active in multi-institutional projects funded by TKI-HTSM and Philips, focusing on cardiovascular disease detection and clinical validation of medical technologies.

Labs/Teams: Member of the Eindhoven MedTech Innovation Center (e/MTIC) and leads the SOMNIA database initiative (over 1000 patient registrations).