Vici grants for four Leiden researchers
Four Leiden researchers have been awarded a prestigious Vici grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Academic Research (NWO).
Two of the researchers are from Leiden University and two are from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). A further 30 researchers from other Dutch universities also received Vici grants. This funding will allow the researchers to conduct research over the coming five years and to build up their own research group. Vici is one of the Netherlands' largest individual research awards.
Psychologist Andrea Evers: The power of expectations
Physical complaints without an identifiable cause are very common and have an enormous impact on both patient and society. This project examines the role of negative expectations in how these physical complaints arise and progress, and how patients recover based on innovative psychological and neurobiological methods and treatments.
Education and child specialist Judi Mesman: The role of upbringing in the development of prejudices
Children often have the same opinions and prejudices about groups of people as their parents. There are indications that parents convey these opinions both consciously and unconsciously, only the process behind this is not fully understood. This project looks at how children learn prejudices about ethnic groups during their upbringing.
Cell biologist Alfred Vertegaal: SUMO wrestling with cell division
Fine-tuning communication in the cell occurs as a result of the complex modification of protein building blocks by small chemical compounds and small proteins. These modifications govern cell division in an intriguing correlation about which very little is known. This complex correlation, which this project is examining, is relevant for new treatment methods for cancer.
Pathologist Judith Bovée: sarcoma modelling for patient-specific treatment
Sarcomas, of which there are more than fifty different types, are rare kinds of cancer that are difficult to diagnose and treat. There are three determining mechanisms at molecular level. Three models will be constructed from precursor cells for this research. Once the molecular mechanisms have been unraveled, they will then be manipulated in primary tumour tissue to explore therapeutic possibilities.