Koen Prange, postdoc in the Medical Biochemistry department, received a Veni grant for his research project: Epigenetic control of inflammatory macrophage activation. Macrophages are a diverse set of immune cells fighting against a wide variety of pathogens and clearing debris. Prange will investigate how macrophages control this diversity via epigenetic processes. These processes determine which genes will be turned on and off and thusly how the cell will react to external stimuli.
Veni grants
Veni, together with Vidi and Vici, is part of the NWO Talent Program (formerly: the Innovations Impulse). Veni is aimed at excellent researchers who have recently gained their doctorates. Within the Talent Programme researchers are free to submit their own subject for funding. In this way NWO encourages curiosity-driven and innovative research. NWO selects researchers based on the quality of the researcher, the innovative nature of the research, the expected scientific impact of the research proposal and opportunities for knowledge utilization.