Arlene John, Assistant Professor at the Biomedical Signals and Systems (BSS) group (EEMCS, TechMed Centre), is among ten female researchers from the Netherlands and Belgium nominated for the TOPX Females to Follow Award 2025 in the Rising Star in Science category. You can support her by casting your vote
Ensuring Innovation Reaches Everyone
Her research aims to ensure that technological innovation benefits everyone, including children, women, and patients in regions with limited access to healthcare. Dr John leads a national project on monitoring brain health in newborns and will soon visit Texas Childrenâs Hospital to develop transparent AI tools for analysing childrenâs heart signals. She is also designing AI methods to detect pregnancy-related heart problemsâan area that remains largely overlooked in cardiology research.
Dr John has published in leading journals, and her forthcoming Springer Nature monograph (2025) will serve as a reference for multimodal AI in healthcare. Her commitment to open science is reflected in her open-access publications and publicly available reproducible code.
Beyond research, Dr John is deeply committed to teaching, mentorship, and outreach. She coordinates the BSc course Medical Sensors and Measurements, supervised over 25 bachelorâs and masterâs students, and mentors three PhD candidates, helping bridge algorithm development with clinical application. She curates a podcast on smart sensors on Spotify and is an active member of her facultyâs Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) team.
Her leadership extends to international collaborations with hospitals and industry partners, including Apple and Philips, as well as editorial and organisational roles such as Associate Editor for the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference and Vice-Chair of the Big Data & AI theme at the University of Twenteâs Cardiovascular Health Technology Centre. Dr Johnâs work showcases her intellectual originality and commitment to equity and accessibility in healthcare.
TOPX Females to Follow Awards 2025
Young female researchers are nominated for this award by universities and knowledge institutions. The TOPX Females to Follow awards are an initiative of TOPX Network and Hyphen Projects. This award aims to give promising female talents visibility, honour outstanding women in Life Sciences & Health, celebrate their accomplishments and inspire the next generation to follow in their footsteps.
In total, 30 female professionals are nominated for the TOPX Females to Follow Awards - Rising Stars in the 3 categories: Science, Industry and Entrepreneurship. Arlene John belongs among the 10 nominees in the category of Rising Stars in Science.
The winners of the Females to Follow awards will be announced at the TOPX Summit on 13 November. YOU can co-determine who will be the winners of the 2025 TOPX Females to Follow Awards by supporting them with your vote before 31st October.