Research on agressive livercancer is made possible thanks to Rubicon grant

Aggressive liver cancer, machine learning and political stigma are just a few of the subjects the researchers will further investigate. They will also study the origins of forest fires, the use of human feces in agriculture and the role of  bone marrow blood vessels in stem cell transplantation.

With the exception of two laureates, all scientists from this round will leave for the maximum allowed 24 months. Five laureates will go to Switzerland, three to the United States, and the remaining researchers will work in the UK, Sweden, France and Germany.

Thanks to the Rubicon grant these young researchers can do their research at a foreign institute that offers the best environment for their research. The size of the grant depends on the destination chosen and the duration of the stay. Each year, NWO and ZonMw can fund about 60 young researchers within Rubicon (for a total amount of 7 million euros granted over three rounds). The awards in this news item concerns the first round of 2024.

Dr M. Luxen
Bone marrow blood vessels and their unique role in stem cell transplantation
University of Groningen -> Germany -> Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine -> 24 months
The researcher will investigate the way in which blood vessels in the bone marrow interact with stem cells after irradiation and stem cell transplantation. This knowledge will be applied to improve the process of stem cell transplantation for treatment of leukaemia and auto-immune 

MSc, TLA. Wachsmann
Precise, multiplexed epigenetic editing in primary human T cells to overcome CAR T cell dysfunction 
LUMC -> United States of America -> Stanford University, Department of Bioengineering -> 24 months
All cells in our body share the same DNA, still there are great differences between a muscle cell or a neuron. This is determined by epigenetics. Within this project, researchers will change T cells, a type of immune cell, on an epigenetic level to make them better in fighting cancer.

Dr A. Furumaya 
Mechanisms of tumor resistance and therapeutic targets in aggressive hepatocellular carcinoma
Amsterdam UMC, location AMC -> France -> Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers INSERM U1138, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris -> 24 months
To better understand aggressive liver cancers and improve treatment, tumor material of aggressive tumours (that worsened despite surgery or chemotherapy) will be studied. Several techniques will be used, including analysis of proteins and genes, and studying the single cells which make up the cancer and the area around the cancer.