Good news! No fewer than fifteen Amsterdam UMC researchers will receive a Veni grant this year. They conduct research on a wide variety of topics with a strongly innovative character: from studying the use of humor by people with cancer to identifying hidden cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis. Thanks to the award of this grant, the researchers listed below can now get to work.
Cyprien Guerrin - Why Some Brains Age Faster: How Stress and Alcohol Impact Brain Energy Pathways
Dementia develops gradually, often long before symptoms appear. Early-life stress and excessive alcohol use are common risk factors, but how they interact to accelerate brain aging, and whether this can be prevented, remains poorly understood. This project studies how stress and alcohol together disrupt the brain’s energy systems (mitochondria), leading to loss of brain connections and cognitive decline. Using brain imaging and cellular analyses in rats and human brain tissue, I willidentify biological changes linked to cognitive decline and test whether a ketogenic diet can mitigate these effect. These findings may inform future preventive and therapeutic strategies.
Chris Hoeboer - Bigdata4change
Although treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often effective, about 40% of people continue to experience symptoms afterwards. We still do not fully understand why treatment works for some individuals but not for others. This project brings together international session data from PTSD treatments. Using advanced analytical methods, researchers will study what makes treatments effective, for whom they work and for whom they may have negative effects. This knowledge will be used to improve treatment by strengthening the most effective elements and to identify early when someone is unlikely to benefit, allowing clinicians to adjust the approach in time.
Jess Peters - Sick Jokes: Humour and Life with Cancer
A cancer diagnosis can turn someone’s life upside down, raising unsettling questions like “Who am I now?” and “What’s next?” Despite the seriousness of cancer, many people living with it use humour. This project examines how humour is shared between them (e.g. through jokes and memes) and how they use it in everyday life – shaping illness stories, relationships, and responses to labels like “fighter.” It combines analysis of online patient-made cancer memes with interviews in which people living with cancer bring humour examples they relate to. The insights may support more person-centred approaches to serious illness and palliative care.
Margot van de Weijer - Improving (Genetic) Insight into Depression by Incorporating Women Biology
Major depressive disorder affects women nearly twice as often as men during the reproductive years, and depressive symptoms are common in women experiencing periods of hormonal change (e.g., the premenstrual period). This project investigates whether differences in the reproductive hormone oestradiol and women-specific factors help explain these differences. Using advanced genetic methods, the research will improve genetic studies of oestradiol, conduct the first genome-wide study of premenstrual mood, and examine how these factors relate to depression in women and men. The project will generate new insights and tools to better study sex-specific mechanisms underlying mental health and other health conditions.
Giulia Zoppolat - PARADOX: Parental Ambivalence and its Relational And Developmental Outcomes and eXperiences
Parenthood can be a paradox: love and joy often mix with frustration and disappointment. How often do parents feel these conflicting emotions, and how do such emotions shape family life? This project explores when and why parents feel conflicted, how this affects family wellbeing, and what may help parents manage the emotional complexity of parenthood.
Simone Saitta - Probabilistic digital twins for anatomical and functional assessment of coronary arteries
Diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease rely on X-ray angiography to visualize the coronary arteries. However, these images provide limited information about the true three-dimensional shape of the vessels and how blood flows through them, both crucial for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment planning. This project will develop digital twins of coronary arteries that allow to virtually assess anatomy and blood flow from routine X-ray images while accounting for uncertainty. By improving diagnosis and predicting treatment outcomes without additional invasive measurements, this research aims to support clinical decision-making, reduce complications, and make cardiovascular care safer and more accessible.
Leah Wilk - Shaping Light, Saving Lives: Multiscale Digital Twins for Cancer Phototherapy
Some tumours cannot be treated because of their location or shape. A promising way to treat such tumours uses a drug that becomes active when light shines on it, but doctors cannot always predict if enough light reaches the drug to destroy the tumour. This project will create a computer model of individual patients’ tumours and calculate how much light reaches and activates the drug and, using a tiny light probe, update the calculations during treatment. This lets doctors adjust the treatment immediately. The goal is to create treatment options for patients with tumours that currently cannot be treated.
Sterre de Boer - Een kieskeurige dementie: waarom frontotemporale dementie alleen de voorkant van de hersenen A picky disease: why does drontemporal dementia only targets the front of the brain?
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a leading cause of dementia in younger people and causes major changes in personality, behaviour, and language. There are no treatments that can stop or slow the disease. A striking feature of FTD is that it often affects only one side of the brain and mainly damages the front parts of the brain. Understanding why this happens is essential for developing effective treatments. Therefore, POLAR-FTD aims to uncover the reasons behind this selective brain damage.
Emma Coomans - Alzheimer’s disease: how can we delay the onset and progression of the disease?
Why do some individuals develop Alzheimer’s disease pathology already at a young age, while others don’t develop Alzheimer’s disease pathology until very extreme ages, or never at all? This project investigates different factors that may influence the age at which Alzheimer’s disease pathology manifests. The findings will help advance strategies aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Tirsa van Duijl - The right cut, at the right time
In half of the patients with excessive bleeding, the biological cause remains unknown. Women are particularly affected, facing risks such as chronic anaemia due to heavy menstrual bleeding and severe postpartum haemorrhage. This project focuses on the protein-cleavage mechanisms by which blood proteins and cells communicate. When this communication is disrupted, bleeding can occur. Using a new technique, the hidden interactions will be mapped to uncover previously unknown routes that regulate blood clotting. These insights contribute to a better understanding and treatment of unexplained bleeding.
Tom Fuchs - Under the surface: spotting hidden cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often experience slow cognitive decline, even when scans look stable and no relapses occur. This hidden decline can affect work, independence, and daily life, but it is rarely detected early. In this project, researchers will follow people with MS at home using short monthly digital thinking tests, combined with brain scans and blood tests. By linking these results to large international patient datasets, the project aims to recognize cognitive decline earlier and better predict who is at risk.
Mohammed Ghiboub - Why recovery does not end fatigue in Crohn’s disease
Many people with Crohn’s disease experience chronic fatigue even when intestinal inflammation is under control. This severely affects work, social life and daily activities, but the biological cause is largely unknown. This project at Amsterdam UMC studies a new mechanism in which serotonin leaves a lasting “mark” on immune cell DNA. By studying patients, cells, and mice, the research aims to improve recognition of fatigue and support the development of future blood tests and treatments.
Jeroen de Groof - Towards the next generation of AI: automated quality control in endoscopy
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems in gastrointestinal endoscopy show promise for improving early disease detection by acting as a real-time “second pair of eyes” supporting doctors. However, AI effectiveness depends on procedural quality.
This VENI project aims to overcome these limitations by developing real-time computer-aided quality (CAQ) systems to improve endoscopy quality. The goal is to standardize care, boost AI reliability, and improve patient outcomes. Three CAQ systems will be developed: (1) quality monitoring with actionable feedback during colonoscopy, (2) automated polyp image quality assessment, and (3) clinical validation of a CAQ system for Barrett’s surveillance.
Sean Jurgens - Predicting heart disease using smarter DNA risk scores
Heart disease remains a leading cause of illness and death. Genetic information can help identify people at higher risk of heart disease. However, current tools capture only part of a person’s true genetic risk and work poorly for people with non-European backgrounds. In this project, researchers will use smart statistical approaches to build genetic prediction tools that are more accurate and more fair. The project aims to support better prevention and more responsible future use of genetics in healthcare.
Despoina Trasanidou - Rebuilding Blood from Within: Gene Therapy for Blood Disorders
Millions of people worldwide are affected by blood diseases caused by faulty genes. Current treatments, like transfusions or bone marrow transplants, help only some patients and can carry serious risks. This project aims to repair ‘sick’ blood stem cells directly inside the body using innovative gene-editing (CRISPR) and targeted delivery (lipid nanoparticles) technologies. As a first example, researchers are developing an in vivo gene therapy for Shwachman–Diamond Syndrome, a rare disorder that impairs blood production and often leads to blood cancer in early adulthood.