The Groningen professors Marcel van Vugt and Gerard Koppelman will both receive a Vici grant for their respective research on DNA replication in cancer cells and early diagnosis of asthma.
The researchers, who both work at the UMCG, will receive a grant of no more than 1,5 million euros, which will enable them to work on innovative research over the next five years and set up a research group.
Research
Van Vugt, professor of molecular oncology and head of the Cancer Research Center Groningen, is receiving the grant to study the underlying mechanisms of DNA replication in cancer cells. He wants to explore how to target these mechanisms as a potential therapeutic approach for hard-to-treat cancers.
Koppelman, professor of paediatric pulmonology and the head of the department of paediatric pulmonology and paediatric allergology, is getting the scholarship for his research on whether a DNA test of nasal cells can diagnose asthma at a young age. He will then try to find a new treatment of asthma aimed at airway cells involved in asthma inception.
More Vicis
Their research proposals landed the professors two of the twelve Vici grants in the fields of applied and technical sciences and health research and healthcare innovation. A total of ninety-one applications were submitted in these fields.
The Vici grants for the exact and natural sciences as well as the social sciences and humanities will be announced mid-March.