Jeroen Geurts

In The Mystery of MS

Science

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Synopsis

The Mystery of MS

Neuroscientist Jeroen Geurts has dedicated his career to finding the cause of multiple sclerosis, a brain disease affecting millions. He hopes to find a cure within ten years.

 

Unsure of what exactly he is looking for, his mission feels like wandering through a dark forest. Following his intuition, he searches in places others have neglected. Geurts says he is trying to find something which “language cannot yet grasp”, and emphasises the role of metaphors in this scientific field riddled with mysteries.

Credits

Character
Jeroen Geurts
Director
Suzanne Raes
Country
Netherlands
Duration
15 min
Year
2023
Neuroscientist Jeroen Geurts ventures off the beaten track to find the cause of MS.
Jeroen Geurts portret

Biography

Jeroen Geurts

Jeroen Geurts (1978) is a pioneer in tracking difficult-to-detect abnormalities in the brains of MS patients. In the course of his career he arrived at a new theory about the cause of MS, one which fundamentally differs from the theory held by most of his colleagues.

Geurts studied medical biology at the University of Amsterdam and was awarded his PhD by the VU (Amsterdam). As a VUmc-researcher he was later appointed Professor of Translational Neuroscience and head of the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience.

Acclaims

  • Rector magnificus of VU University Amsterdam
  • Founder of Brein in Beeld, an organisation that spreads knowledge about the brain and promotes interdisciplinary brain research
  • Board of Directors, Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)

THE MYSTERY OF MS IS A SHORTER VERSION OF THE FILM

MS (2019)

The film MS, which was initiated and financed by Ammodo, premiered in 2019 at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in the prestigious ‘Masters’ program. The documentary was then also screened on NPO 2.

In this longer version of the film, you see a dialogue between a scientist and an expert with a great deal of experience. A search for how to deal with what you do not know or do not yet know. The hope for a solution is essential for both, however different they may be.

You can watch the Doctalks episode where director Suzanne Raes is interviewed by Marijn Frank here (Dutch language).

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Director

  • Portret Suzanne Raes

    Suzanne Raes

    Director Suzanne Raes (1969) is known, among other things, for the documentaries 0.03 seconds (2017) and Heart of Democracy (2020). Her film Twee Mannen – Ivo van Hove & Jan Versweyveld won the award for Best Documentary Feature at Brugge International Film Festival 2022. In 2019, Raes released the film MS together with Ammodo which won three prizes at Pariscience International Film Festival 2020, including the Grand Prix. The Mystery of MS is a new, shorter version of that film.

Curious for more?Watch the other Ammodo Docs