Rubicon grants for research on brain cells and sleep in alzheimer’s Jeroen Uleman and Mandy Meijer receive funding from NWO and ZonMw

Two recently graduated scholars from Radboud university medical center can do their research at foreign research institutes thanks to a Rubicon grant from NWO and ZonMw. For many researchers, experience abroad is an important step in their career. The programme gives young, highly promising researchers the opportunity to gain international research experience.

Predicting cell types in the brain and their role in childhood behaviour

Mandy Meijer: from Radboudumc / Radboud University Nijmegen to the University of British Columbia, British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Canada (two years).
Brains consist of different brain cell types, which influence how the brain works and how someone behaves. It is difficult to study brain cell types in living humans. The researcher will develop tools to study human brain cell types based on peripheral blood, to discover their roles in childhood neurodevelopment.

Breaking the cycle: A life course systems approach to sleep, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease

Jeroen Uleman: from Radboudumc to the University of Copenhagen in Denmark (two years).
There is no treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Worse still, prevention strategies in older adults have only had limited success. To develop effective strategies earlier in life, the researcher will use computer simulations targeting sleep and mental health to explore interventions that prevent late-life cognitive decline.

About the Rubicon programme

Thanks to this 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 for a total amount of 7 million euros allocated over three rounds. The awards in this news item concern the second round of 2023.