The Amsterdam Science & Innovation Awards 2025 were presented at NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam on 17 June. Quint Wiersma, researcher at School of Business and Economics, won the prize in the Society category with Readler: an app that revolutionises speech therapy for children. In the Health category, Anouk Post, researcher at the Faculty of Science, won with her pitch on LightUp: an ingestible camera the size of a pill to detect oesophageal cancer. The winners will each receive €10,000 to further develop their idea and take it to market.
Readler: Unique AI-driven Tool
Approximately 80 percent of speech therapy practices have a waiting list. Sometimes the waiting time is more than a year. Readler is a digital assistant that gives children tailored feedback on their speech and pronunciation. The AI-driven tool is not a replacement, but a supplement to the teacher, speech therapist, or parent and offers detailed guidance to help children improve their speech.
Quint Wiersma: “Winning an Innovation Award in our home city at this great event feels like a privilege. Our team feels supported in bringing ReadLer to the speech therapy market. Making this world a better place, one word at a time.”
Team Readler consists of Quint Wiersma, Francisco Blasques en Pascal Koot. Getting curious? Watch the video or visit Readler's website.
LightUp: Giant leap for detecting esophageal cancer
Early detection of esophageal cancer is vital. People at increased risk currently undergo an endoscopy. This procedure misses a quarter of early tumors, is stressful for patients, and is labor-intensive. An advanced camera the size of a pill combines photos with a technique that makes cancer cells glow. A simple and patient-friendly procedure that detects 27 percent more cancer cases at an early stage.
Anouk Post: "It was a very inspiring event showcasing innovation and impact in Amsterdam. We will found the spin-off within the coming month to turn the research into a business that can make a real-world impact on patients."
Anouk Post, Tyla Danskin, and professor Biophotonics Johannes de Boer from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are the driving forces behind LightUp. Curious? Then watch the video about this innovation or visit the website.
About the Innovation Awards
The innovation awards are an initiative of Innovation Exchange Amsterdam (IXA). The Awards are a reward for innovative ideas from young scientists. They are all affiliated with Amsterdam’s universities and knowledge institutions. After a short live pitch by the nine finalists, the jury assessed whether the ideas were innovative enough, could actually improve society, and were commercially viable.
“I am incredibly proud of the breadth of innovative ideas and the passion with which scientists work on their products,” said jury chair İlknur Dönmez, Director of Economic Affairs and Culture at the City of Amsterdam, at the award ceremony. “The three winners distinguish themselves by not only seeking economic value, but also looking at added value for the community.”
Amsterdam Impact Award presented to Jaap Seidell
During AmSIA in NEMO, emeritus professor of Nutrition and Health Jaap Seidell received the special Impact Award Amsterdam 750 years from the president of Executive Board Margrethe Jonkman. He set up the Health Sciences programme at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam twenty years ago. His research focused on nutrition, health and prevention and care of obesity and type 2 diabetes in the Netherlands. With a common thread being a healthier environment for young people.
Read more about Jaap Seidell's Impact Award
