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Jingyuan Fu (Genetics/Pediatrics) and Inge Zuhorn (Biomedical Engineering) have been awarded a Vici grant of € 1.5 million from the Netherlands Organsation for Scientific Research (NWO). With this Vici grant they can develop an innovative line of research over the next five years.
Dr. Jingyuan Fu
Dr. (Jingyuan Fu focuses in her research on decoding the human genome and metagenome in cardiometabolic disease. With this Vici Grant she will set up a new research project in this field. Like our DNA, the thousands of bacterial genomes in our gut provide the code for proteins that determine our risk of disease. This project will identify variants in bacterial genomes, and their interactions with the human genome, to assess their roles in determining individual risk of developing cardiometabolic disease.
More information about Jingyuan Fu's research:
Dr. Inge Zuhorn
Dr. Inge Zuhorn is doing research on drug delivery with nanoparticles. She will use the Vici grant to develop nanoparticles for drug delivery to the brain.
Nanoparticles show promise for treatment of brain diseases. To successfully deliver drugs to the brain, distinct nanoparticle sizes and shapes are required at different stages of the drug delivery process. To this end, this project generates shape-shifting nanoparticles that change their size and shape during their travel to the brain.
More information about the research of Inge Zuhorn:
Crown of the work
Dean and Board member Marian Joels sees the Vici grant as a fantastic crown on the work of these UMCG laureates. "It gives them the opportunity to further shape their own innovative line of research. The Board of Directors is extremely proud of these top researchers and wishes the researchers and their teams the best of luck in carrying out all these exciting research plans."
Cisca Wijmenga was head of the genetics department for a long time and is now rector of the University of Groningen: "A heartfelt congratulations to both UMCG-researchers. I am extra proud of Jingyuan who started in my research group in 2008 as a junior postdoc in bioinformatics and has managed to build a wonderful team in the field in recent years of the biology of complex systems, including the gut flora. Jingyuan her work makes clear the great importance of showing courage to take new research paths, and the value of working together to really push the boundaries in science."
About the Vici Grant
Vici is one of the largest personal scientific grants in the Netherlands and is aimed at advanced researchers. The Vici grant, together with the Veni and Vidi grants, is part of the NWO Talent Program (previously: the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme).
The Vici is intended for highly experienced researchers who have successfully demonstrated their ability to develop their own innovative line of research and who can act as a coach for young researchers.
The funding offers the researcher the opportunity to build up his own research group, often in anticipation of a structural professor position.
Earlier this year, all the Vici's within the health domain (ZonMw) were announced, with professor of genetics Lude Franke receiving a Vici.
Read about the annoucement of the Vici grant awarded to Lude Franke.
