Diana Derval wins 2026 Insights Professional of the Year award

French researcher Diana Derval won the 2026 Insights Professional of the Year award from D&IN in Amsterdam, with judges citing her neuroscience work, microbiome research and unconventional problem-solving. The win spotlights a growing link between marketing insights, human biology and applied research across consumer, health and space-related work.

Why it matters: - Diana Derval’s win highlights how data and insights work is expanding beyond classic marketing research into neuroscience, microbiome science and human factors. - The award also reinforces the value of methods that connect consumer behavior with physiology, health and innovation. - DervalResearch’s B Corp recertification adds another signal that the business is positioning “research for good” as part of its identity.

What happened: - Diana Derval won the Insights Professional of the Year 2026 award in Amsterdam on July 7, 2026. - D&IN, the Data & Insights Network for the Benelux, organized the award. - The jury said Derval impressed with a presentation that showed unusual connections and new angles for client problems. - The jury praised research on the microbiome, hormones and an excursion into space as part of the winning case. - This was Derval’s first nomination. - Derval had just returned to the Netherlands after expanding DervalResearch from Asia to Africa.

The details: - The jury included Sandra van Vemden as chair, plus Marloes Flink, Dennis Hoogervorst, Ronnie van Diemen-Teeuwen, Lisanne Janssen Andeweg, Brigitte van Buggenum and Onno ’t Sas. - The award recognizes analytical rigor, conceptual creativity, communication, sector impact, steady motivation and inspiring leadership. - DervalResearch’s work began with a neuroscience study on coffee preferences. - That research helped brands adapt assortments to local tastes. - The coffee work also led to a clinical study with the US NIH and OLVG Hospital in Amsterdam. - That study linked taste perception to new pathways for preventing type 2 diabetes. - DervalResearch now maps gut microbiome enterotypes to predict consumer behavior. - The company also advises space agencies through a newly created Derval Space unit focused on human factors in extreme environments. - Diana Derval said the company finds insights that have a positive impact on health and society while solving marketing problems for brands. - Sylvain Hermange of MAIF said the collaboration used neuroscience and physiological segmentation, including Hormonal Quotient®, to understand risk, values and behavior. - Hermange said the approach combined document analysis, expert interviews and behavioral modeling to produce detailed personas. - Hermange said the method can take time for marketing teams to absorb, but it helped challenge assumptions and open new human-centered innovation paths. - Diana Derval teaches neuroscience at the IAE Sorbonne MBA in Health Marketing and Communication. - Diana Derval also teaches international marketing at CIEE Amsterdam. - Diana Derval has written 12 books in English, French and Chinese. - Her book The Right Sensory Mix was a finalist for the AMA Berry Award and was recommended by Philip Kotler. - Virginie Bellière-Baca of Sulzer said Derval turns curiosity into discovery and science into human-centered inspiration. - Bellière-Baca said Derval’s thinking helps connect ideas, cultures and disciplines across teams. - DervalResearch points readers to dervalresearch.com for more information and product tests. - The company promotes the Microbiot® and Hormonal Quotient® tests. - The Derval Color Test has already been taken by 15 million users worldwide.

Between the lines: - The award suggests the insights field is rewarding researchers who can move between consumer psychology, biology and applied business strategy. - Derval’s mix of academia, client work and space-related consulting gives DervalResearch a cross-industry profile that is uncommon in the sector. - The emphasis on physiology and machine learning signals a broader push to make audience segmentation more predictive and less reliant on demographics alone.

What’s next: - DervalResearch plans to launch a neuroscience and machine learning platform. - The platform is intended to help brands check product coherence, identify true explanatory variables and predict market priorities. - Derval is also expected to keep expanding the company’s applied research work across health, consumer behavior and extreme environments.

The bottom line: - Diana Derval’s award is less about a single project than a broader model: use neuroscience and data science to solve marketing problems, then carry those insights into health and societal impact.