With an NWO Vidi-grant up to 850.000 euro, two talented researchers from Amsterdam Neuroscience now can start their own research groups. With these groups they can study a variety of disorders. The grants are provided by the Dutch organization for scientific research (NWO).
Eva Strijbis
Aging healthy with mutiple sclerosis (MS)
The average age of patients with MS keeps increasing. Over 50 percent of all people with MS is nowadays over the age of 50. Treatment of MS in older patients however brings challenges, as we know little over aging with MS. It is for example unknown how older patients can be diagnosed best. We also do not know whether advantages and disadvantages of treatments apply differently in younger patiens compared to older patients, and in which way aging influences the disease progress and quality of life. With this research researchers are moving towards care that actually aligns with the needs of this growing group of patients with MS..
Collin Groot
Developing biomarkers for brain diseases in collaboration with people that have chosen to undergo euthanasia
In most forms of dementia toxic proteins accumulate in the brain. Researchers can measure these proteins using biomarkers through brain scans and blood. For many forms of dementia there are no biomarkers. The BEACON-study aims to change this. A 100 participants with toxic protein accumulations in their brains are participating in this unique study. Because these people have chosen to undergo euthanasia, measurements of potential biomarkers are possible shortly before death. Directly after dying their brain tissue can be studied to detect how well the protein measurements reflect reality. This way reseachers can investigate the reliability of biomarkers. With reliable biomarkers diagnostics, prognosis, and treatment of future patients can be improved.