ACS provides funds to support talented ACS researchers and to stimulate collaboration between ACS researchers within Amsterdam UMC. Each year several calls are organized for ACS researchers at different stages of their careers.

Each year, ACS organizes grant rounds for the Postdoc grant, MD/PhD grant and the Out of the Box (OOTB) grant. The Postdoc and MD/PhD grants are for excellent young basic and clinical researchers, respectively, and aim to support talented ACS researchers. The Postdoc grant provides the opportunity to obtain postdoc experience for a period of one year in a prestigious research center abroad. The MD/PhD grant covers one day a week protected research time for a two-year post-doctoral project for medical specialists in training. The OOTB grant aims at supporting ACS project leaders to set up new collaborations within ACS. For more information on the different grants, see the overview of ACS grants.

Two laureates from 2016 tell what the ACS grant has brought them.

Marten Hoeksema - ACS Postdoc grant 2016

The ACS Postdoc fellowship allowed me to perform my post-doc in the lab of Professor Glass, a world expert in macrophages and gene regulation. As the result of the vibrant and collaborative environment at UC San Diego, I have been able to master novel state-of-the-art genetic techniques and analysis tools, and to expand my scientific network. During my time here, I have identified key transcription factors for activation of both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory gene enhancers in macrophages, fundamental information that we can use for inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases. Based on these findings, I applied for additional research grants and was recently awarded with the American Heart Association Postdoc grant and a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship.

Marten Hoeksema: I highly recommend young researchers apply for the ACS postdoc grant to visit a lab abroad. It has been a great life experience for me, as I have learned so much both inside and outside the lab!

Ronak Delewi – ACS MD/PhD grant 2016

During my residency in Cardiology at the AMC, I remained captivated by cardiovascular research in the hope of improving clinical outcomes on a larger scale. Although I am a devoted physician, I missed having dedicated research time. As such, this ACS MD/PhD grant provided the perfect combination for my last years of training. I spent this time performing research in the field of transcatheter aortic valve implantation, supervising PhD students and also set up new research ideas and grants. It truly was the foundation for the future, where I will hopefully be able to further combine the love for research and interventional cardiology.