Lidewijde De Jong, Jingyuan Fu and Inge Zuhorn have received the money to help their research efforts over the next 5 years
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros to three top researchers in Groningen. Lidewijde de Jong, Jingyuan Fu, and Inge Zuhorn can use this amount to further develop their own research ideas for 5 years. As reported by the GIC.
Cisca Wijmenga, Rector Magnificus of the University of Groningen, says that a Vici grant is a fantastic crown on the work of the three RUG/UMCG laureates.
“It gives them the opportunity to further shape their own innovative line of research. The Executive Board is extremely proud of these top researchers and wishes them and their research teams every success in implementing their new research plans. ”
Lidewijde de Jong: trends in epitaphs
Dr. Lidewijde De Jong will receive a Vici grant for research into trends in epitaphs and grave customs. Her project examines how trends in epitaphs, portraits and decorated memorials have been incorporated into local burial customs. In doing so, it offers new insights into cultural change.
Dr. Jingyuan Fu: genetics and cardiometabolic diseases
Dr. Jingyuan Fu’s research focuses on decoding the human genome and metagenome in cardiometabolic diseases. With the Vici grant she will set up a new research project in this field. Thousands of genomes of our gut bacteria, just like our DNA, code the proteins that can contribute to the development of diseases. In this project, the researchers identify variations in bacterial genomes and their interactions with the human genome to determine their role in individual risk of cardiometabolic disease.
Dr. Inge Zuhorn: nanoparticles and neural medicine
Dr. Inge Zuhorn receives a Vici grant for research into the way in which medicines can also penetrate into the brain. Brain tumors are difficult to treat because drugs are difficult to penetrate into the brain. She will use the Vici grant to research the use of nanoparticles. This may offer a solution, but requires a change in the shape and size of the nanoparticles after administration in the patient. To this end, nanoparticles are made in this research that change shape in the patient.
Vici is one of the largest personal scientific grants in the Netherlands and is aimed at advanced researchers who are free to submit their own research project for funding.
Image: Dr Jingyan Fu at the UMCG. Via the RUG.
