People who have suffered ischemic stroke have a high rate of recurrence. This may be because a piece of blood clot has been left behind in the heart. A small piece can detach and travel to the brain. Leon Rinkel, PhD candidate at the Neurology department of Amsterdam UMC, will investigate how to detect this piece of blood cloth as quickly and effectively as possible and how often this causes ischemic stroke.
Experiencing cardiac arrest or heart failure at a young age. This can happen to people who have thickened heart muscle due to the hereditary heart muscle disease hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In other patients, however, these heart problems can occur much later. Sean Jurgens, PhD candidate at the Experimental Cardiology department of Amsterdam UMC and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, will build genetic risk prediction models to predict who will develop symptoms when.
Visit the Heart Foundation website for more information.
About the Dekker grants
The Dekker grants are named after Dr. E. Dekker, former director of the Dutch Heart Foundation. He was the initiator in the Netherlands of civilian assistance in the event of a cardiac arrest. Dekker grants are personalized grants for talented cardiovascular researchers at various stages of their careers.
Scientific research is desperately needed to prevent people from dying or becoming ill from cardiovascular disease. That's why the Heart Foundation attracts top talent with its personalized Dekker grants and helps them build their own line of research.
Source: Dutch Heart Foundation