Rachel Brouwer (assistant professor CNCR - CTG) recently published her work in Nature Neuroscience. The study is a large-scale collaboration of research groups worldwide and identifies genetic variants that are associated with the speed of structural brain changes over time.

Douglas Wightman (PhD student CNCR-CTG) publishes his first results in Nature Genetics. The large scale genetic study resulted in the discovery of novel genes and biological mechanisms that contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease.

Prof. dr. Danielle Posthuma has been awarded the 2021 Mensa Foundation Prize for her research directly identifying, for the first time, hundreds of human genes highly correlated to variations in intelligence.

Dr. Vivi Heine has been awarded the Open Competition ENW-M grant (700kEuro) for the development of 3D cell-instructive engineered stem cell models of human brain networks.

With the €30.000 grant Stephanie Dooves will use patient-derived stem cell models to study Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) disease mechanisms in the project “Targeting astrocytes to improve neuronal functioning in TSC”.

Computational neuroscientist Martijn van den Heuvel has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). Over the next five years he will study connections in the brain and the role they play in how the brain functions.

The Veni grant is worth up to 250,000 euros and this year 161 highly promising young scientists received this grant by NWO. The grant provides the laureates with the opportunity to further elaborate their own ideas during a period of three years. The study of Jeanne Savage concerns ‘Exploring the heterogeneous genetic origins of alcohol misuse’.

The invited review includes a detailed overview of tools and resources that aid in interpreting GWAS results and is published in Biological Psychiatry.

More than 1.2 million euros for stem cell research into neuronal abnormalities in white matter disorders

Martijn van den Heuvel is one of three excellent researchers appointed full professor within the 2019 VU University Research Chair (URC) program