Laura De Herde obtained her MSc in Biomedical Sciences with a specialisation in neuromodulation from Maastricht University, Netherlands in 2021. Since graduating, Laura has been working at NeuroRestore in Lausanne, Switzerland. Focusing on the use of spinal cord stimulation in the rehabilitation of paraplegics and tetraplegics, Laura first started as a research intern, and then worked as a clinical trial coordinator and research assistant.
Laura is especially interested in non-invasive neuromodulation:
“I feel like we are using means that are not optimal for the body. (...) Whether it is motor or cognitive disorders, we are using a lot of pharmacological means which have many side effects, whilst we could be using invasive or non-invasive methodologies to help patients get better ‘by themselves’. My interest is in pushing those methodologies forward. Maybe in their combination, but right now, primarily in the non-invasive field – really exploring how we can personalise protocols. For example in depression treatments and maybe in movement disorders – if we can combine it with, for example, spinal cord stimulation.”
When asked what motivated her to apply for an NAD fellowship, Laura emphasises the lab rotations during the pre-PhD year and the freedom to plan and shape your own PhD project: “What really attracted me to NAD is that it is very orientated towards the students and it is trying to bring out their strengths. I love how collaborative it is (...) It allows for creativity and independence, yet not too much – you feel like you are guided through it.”
Laura is curiosity-driven and loves a challenge. She particularly enjoys the problem-solving aspect of research: “I find this problem-solving aspect so much fun. You will set something up, and it may not work from the get-go. You are going to have a problem, you are going to need to find a solution to it. You are going to try that again, and there is going to be another problem. (...) At one point, it hopefully works. I find that process extremely rewarding.”
Laura will be doing her first lab rotation with Professor Axel Thielscher of the Neurophysics group at the Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, DTU, especially focusing on improving her skills within coding and simulation.