Congratulations to Femke Dijkstra, winner of the 2021 Delsys Prize!
ADInstruments is proud to support the Delsys Prize for Innovation in Electromyography (EMG). We are pleased to congratulate the 18th Annual Prize winner: Ms. Femke Dijkstra from the Department of Neurology at Antwerp University Hospital.
Ms. Dijkstra’s winning proposal was titled, "REM sleep without atonia as prodromal neurophysiological sign of Parkinson's Disease". Ms. Dijkstra is a doctoral candidate at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) whose research concerns the relation between sleep dysfunction and movement disorders.
Of the award, Femke says "We are deeply honored to have been selected as winner of the 2021 Delsys Prize and are extremely grateful to the De Luca Foundation. We thank all our team members at the Antwerp University Hospital, the General Hospital Geel and other centers for their commitment to the research project. We are convinced that this generous support from the De Luca Foundation will be of great value to our research team and will help us to achieve innovative insights and developments in the early detection of Parkinson’s disease and related movement disorders.”

Ms. Femke Dijkstra, winner of the 2021 Delsys Prize.
Femke's research explores predictive symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, in particular how disordered REM sleep is an early marker of neurodegeneration. Preliminary research observed a higher incidence of REM sleep without atonia (RSWA) in Parkinson's patients. Femke's application concludes that this may be a useful biomarker for disease management.
As part of her prize, Femke will receive a US 3,000 monetary award, a complete NeuroMap System including Trigno Avanti sensors, as well as a license to our LabChart Analysis software.
More about the Delsys Prize »
Congratulations again Femke.