When scientists and politicians meet: The politician’s perspective
A conversation with politician Toon Vandeurzen, who visited the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research as part of the Science meets Parliament program
As part of the Science Meets Parliament program (sciencemeetsparliament.be), scientists from Flemish research institutions are paired with policymakers to foster dialogue between research and politics.
In this year’s edition, the pairing brought together Zoë Van Acker, a postdoctoral researcher from the Annaert lab from the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, working in the Alzheimer’s field, and Toon Vandeurzen (CD&V, Flemish Parliament, Limburg electoral district), whose policy work spans economy, justice, and welfare, with a strong interest in public health and respective societal challenges.
After welcoming Zoë into his world through two parliamentary shadowing sessions in Brussels, Toon is now stepping into her turf. His visit to the VIB–KU Leuven labs gave him an inside look at advanced facilities, including the microscopy, electrophysiology, and transcriptomics units - some of the very tools that help unravel the mechanisms behind conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia. By seeing the research process up close, Toon aims to better understand the challenges, needs, and opportunities in scientific work, fostering a stronger bridge between science and policy in Flanders.
Hello Toon! Why did you choose to participate in this program?
I chose to participate in the program because I think it's very important that members of Parliament know what is going on in the research centers and at the universities. I was also curious, because my world is totally different world from a researcher’s, and I wanted to get to know more of what is happening—how does it happen, which research is now ongoing about health—because I'm a member of the Commission of Health. I think it was very interesting to get together with Zoë because she studies Alzheimer’s disease, which impacts a lot of people. I think there are over two hundred thousand people suffering from the condition in Belgium. So, it's very interesting to get more information on what's going on there. Are there therapies? Are there solutions getting ready? That's why I participated.
Speaking of your committee’s welfare and public health work, how has your experience so far, communicating with Zoë and coming here, affected your views on science moving forward?
I think when we visit research centers and get to know researchers, we always become more aware of how important it is as a government to invest in research. I have to say, when Zoë talks about her research and when I look at videos that she made, I always tell my assistant that half of the explanation is like a foreign language to me. But I think the most important thing is knowing what's really happening between these walls, what research is really about, and being aware that it's very important as a government to keep investing in innovation and research.
Since you mentioned that some of the scientific language feels like a foreign language to you, how do you feel scientists and politicians can work more closely?
I think the fact that we are partnering up together and getting to know each other and telling each other about our jobs is already very important. Like I said, our worlds are very much apart. I think Zoë is every day busy studying very concrete things, and my job is, I think, a little bit the opposite.
I think those two worlds need to come together more. There needs to be more participation, more chances of working and collaborating, communicating with each other, and knowing what scientists are researching at the moment. In the Parliament, we are talking about how we can solve the problem of Alzheimer’s disease, how we can cure more people, and how we can work on prevention. At the same time, there are experts in our country researching the same problem. It would be a great opportunity if we could get those two worlds more connected.
How can we better integrate knowledge from research centers and science into policymaking without slowing the process down?
I think we must stimulate the culture in Parliament to have more hearings and invite more scientists to the Parliament. When we are voting on policies and making policies, it’s between politicians. However, politicians don’t always have a lot of knowledge about the research going on about the problem they’re discussing.
Inviting researchers who work on the problem we are trying to solve would be a very good idea, which wouldn’t necessarily slow the process down. I also think it would be a good idea to have a platform, much like these programs we are participating in now, that really pushes scientists and politicians together in an organized way, as they are not going to find each other naturally, since those worlds are so far apart.
What do you think is the best way to start these programs?
I think, like the program we’re doing right now, Science Meets Parliament, the politicians are very curious and willing to participate. To continue it, I believe we should invite more people and create more opportunities. Maybe cluster them into topics that they are interested in. For a scientist, Parliament is just Parliament, but politicians are all working in different teams around specific topics and themes. Moreover, it would be great if we had these programs like Science Meets Parliament, but specific to certain types of societal problems.
Would you come back to the lab if you had the chance?
I would definitely come back if I got another opportunity! It’s the first time I’ve been here, so it’s very interesting to see where a part of where VIB is based. I would come back, and I’m also very interested in the future of what is going on in this center. I was really fascinated about all the science I was exposed to, as well as all the technology units. Seeing where research is done firsthand was amazing, especially interacting with all the heavy machinery.
Moreover, to know more about the challenges that Alzheimer’s disease research still faces really motivates me to make it a more prominent topic in parliamentary discussions. Understanding the complexity of the disease, the ongoing search for therapies, and the need for sustained investment in innovation reinforces my commitment to ensuring that research into Alzheimer’s receives the attention and resources it deserves. This visit has not only broadened my perspective but also strengthened my resolve to help bridge the gap between science and policy for the benefit of patients and society as a whole.
Check out Part 1 of this blog series, where we interviewed Zoë Van Acker, the researcher who was paired up with Toon.
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