Personal profile
Quote
I want to change our way of looking at sleep (data) to better understand sleep and sleep disorders
Research profile
Merel van Gilst is an assistant professor in the Signal Processing Systems group (department of Electrical Engineering). She is a neuroscientist and somnologist (expert in sleep research) and PI in the advanced sleep monitoring group where she focusses on analysing and interpreting the wealth of data collected during overnight sleep recordings in a clinically meaningful way.
Van Gilst is driven by a fascination for the intricacies of sleep architecture and how sleep can be disrupted by a variety of disorders. Despite significant advancements in sleep measurements, the field still relies on very simple representations essentially developed in the early days of sleep research. As a sleep expert, van Gilst focusses on (new) data representations and works at the intersection of technological development and clinical application to better understand sleep disorders.
Her appointment at TU/e is complemented with a research appointment at Sleep Medicine Center Kempenhaeghe where she set up several sleep monitoring studies. For example the SOMNIA project, where sleep registrations are combined with experimental measurement modalities, completely integrated in regular patient care. The SOMNIA database currently contains over 2500 registrations and is a valuable source of data for the sleep research activities
Academic background
After her multidisciplinary education in cognitive artificial intelligence and neuroscience at Utrecht University (graduation 2011), Merel van Gilst obtained her PhD on sleep and sleep disorders in Parkinson's Disease at the department of neurology of the Radboud university medical center Nijmegen (graduation 2016). In 2016 she became a post doctoral researcher at TU/e and sleep medicine center Kempenheaghe. In 2017 she passed the European Society of Sleep Research exam and became a somnologist (expert in sleep research). Since 2022 she is an assistant professor in the biomedical diagnostics lab (SPS, EE), where she is PI in the advanced sleep monitoring group.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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TKI-HTSM/22.0501/TKI2212P12 MEDEIA: MEDical Engineering, Innovations and Applications
van Gilst, M. M. (Project member), Hafkamp, F. (Project member), van de Pol, J. (Project member), Basso, G. (Project member), Belt, H. J. W. (Project member), van de Schaft, V. (Project member), Bun, I. P. O. (Project member), Zwerver, P. G. (Project member), Long, X. (Project member), Mischi, M. (Project Manager), Chen, X. (Project member), Dassen, S. (Project member), Bergmans, J. W. M. (Project member), Dekker, J. (Project member), van Laar, J. O. E. H. (Project member), Vullings, R. (Project member), Hup, R. G. (Project member), de Vries, T. (Project member) & Babac, S. (Project member)
1/01/22 → 31/12/27
Project: Third tier
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TKI-HTSM/20.0295/PPS2006 MEDUSA: Medical Data Utilization Solutions Accelerator
van Gilst, M. M. (Project member), Xie, J. (Project member), Huijben, I. (Project member), Wulterkens, B. M. (Project member), Hafkamp, F. (Project member), van de Pol, J. (Project member), Montree, R. J. H. (Project member), Cerina, L. (Project member), Oei, S. G. (Project member), Vullings, R. (Project member), Mischi, M. (Project Manager), Bergmans, J. W. M. (Project member), Long, X. (Project member) & Li, X. (Project member)
1/01/20 → 16/04/29
Project: Third tier
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OP-SLEEP: Ontwikkeling Patiëntvriendelijk SLaap EEG Patch
Bergmans, J. W. M. (Project Manager), van Sloun, R. J. G. (Project member), Huijben, I. (Project member), Huijben, I. (Project member), van Gilst, M. M. (Project communication officer), Hermans, L. W. A. (Project member), van der Hagen, D. (Project communication officer) & Kunkels, Y. (Project member)
1/07/19 → 30/04/23
Project: Research direct
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Projectlead e/MTIC ENGINE 2018-106
Bergmans, J. W. M. (Project Manager), van Gilst, M. M. (Project member), van der Hagen, D. (Project communication officer) & Zinger, S. (Project member)
1/11/18 → 31/10/23
Project: Research direct
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PPS TKI Philips MEDICAID: MedTech Solutions for Earlier Detection of Cardiovascular Disease
Bergmans, J. W. M. (Project Manager), Sammali, F. (Project member), Bester, M. (Project member), van de Laar, L. (Project member), van Gilst, M. M. (Project communication officer), Mischi, M. (Project member), Wulterkens, B. M. (Project member), van der Hagen, D. (Project communication officer), Rabotti, C. (Project member), Vullings, R. (Project member), Schiphorst, L. (Project member), Bakkes, T. H. G. F. (Project member) & Turco, S. (Project member)
2/01/18 → 30/09/23
Project: Research direct
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Sleep apnea phenotypes based on multi-night assessment of sleep perception
Kuhn, J. (Corresponding author), Schiphorst, L. R. B., Wulterkens, B. M., Asin, J., Overeem, S., van Gilst, M. M. & Fonseca, P., 14 Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Behavioral Sleep Medicine. XXResearch output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open Access -
The SENSS (Stress, Exercise, Nutrition, Sleep, Self-management) study: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial to evaluate an integrated, personalized and stepped care lifestyle approach for people with Parkinson's disease
Gaveel, T. J., Postma, E. M., Bloem, B. R., Darweesh, S. K. L., Munneke, M., Overbeek, K., Helmich, R., Zeevat, F., Zijlstra, M., Boersma, C., Overeem, S., Pijpers, A., Jakimowicz, C., van Gilst, M. M., Speckens, A. E. M., Thé, R., Manhoudt, G., van der Wel, A., Duits, A. A. & de Vries, N. M., 3 Mar 2026, In: Frontiers in Neurology. 17, 14 p., 1752073.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
A Deep Generative Model for Five-Class Sleep Staging with Arbitrary Sensor Input
van Gorp, H. (Corresponding author), Gilst, M. M. V., Fonseca, P., van Meulen, F. B., Dijk, J. P. V., Overeem, S. & van Sloun, R. J. G., Oct 2025, In: IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics. 29, 10, p. 7186-7199 14 p., 10979374.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)9 Downloads (Pure) -
Deep clustering of polysomnography data to characterize sleep structure in healthy sleep and non-rapid eye movement parasomnias
Huijben, I. A. M. (Corresponding author), van Sloun, R. J. G., Pijpers, A., Overeem, S. & van Gilst, M. M., Nov 2025, In: Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 423, 17 p., 110516.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)118 Downloads (Pure) -
Hypnogram and Hypnodensity Analysis of REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder Using Both EEG and HRV-Based Sleep Staging Models
van der Aar, J. F. (Corresponding author), van Gilst, M. M., van den Ende, D. A., van Gorp, H., Anderer, P., Pijpers, A., Fonseca, P., Peri, E. & Overeem, S., Oct 2025, In: Journal of Sleep Research. 34, 5, 13 p., e70046.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)72 Downloads (Pure)
Courses
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Data acquisition and analysis
Khaled, Q., Kaymak, U., van Gilst, M. M. & Hommerson, S. 1/09/22 → 31/08/26
Course
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Technology for care and cure
van der Hout-van der Jagt, M. B., Overeem, S., Klooster, D. C. W., van Gilst, M. M., Paulides, M. M., van Pul, C., Mischi, M., Vullings, R., Peri, E., Hurkmans, C., Sumser, K., Mestrom, R. M. C., Hommerson, S. & Turco, S. 1/09/24 → 31/08/26
Course
Press/Media
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Eindhoven University of Technology: Algorithms for the Monitoring of Sleep Disorders With Wearables Improved With Deep Learning
Fitzgerald, B., Overeem, S. & van Gilst, M. M.
7/07/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Algorithms for the monitoring of sleep disorders with wearables improved with deep learning
Overeem, S. & van Gilst, M. M.
5/07/23
3 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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New Bioengineering Research Has Been Reported by Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (Contactless Camera-Based Sleep Staging: The HealthBed Study)
Fonseca, P., Overeem, S., van Gilst, M. M., van Dijk, J. & van Meulen, F.
8/02/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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-Eindhoven University of Technology: It is not how long but the quality of sleep that determines sleep perception; People with insomnia do not sleep so much less, but mainly with less continuity
Overeem, S., van Gilst, M. M. & Hermans, L. W. A.
11/12/20
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Eindhoven University of Technology: It is Not How Long But the Quality of Sleep That Determines Sleep Perception
Overeem, S., van Gilst, M. M. & Hermans, L. W. A.
10/12/20
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
Research areas
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Sleep Medicine
van Gilst, M. (Content manager) & van der Hout-van der Jagt, B. (Content manager)
Impact: Research Topic/Theme (at group level)