Ellen van den Bogaard and Jorik Nonnekes receive Vidi grant

Ellen van den Bogaard and Jorik Nonnekes have received a Vidi grant of up to 850,000 euros from NWO. This will give these Radboudumc researchers the opportunity to set up a new research group and develop an innovative line of research over the next five years. Their projects are listed below.

Prof. dr. Ellen van den Bogaard - Hero of our skin

Our skin acts as a protector, shielding our body from the outside world. In various skin conditions, environmental factors can either trigger or worsen the disease. This holds true for atopic eczema, the most prevalent inflammatory skin disease among us. Researchers seek to find evidence how key environmental sensors in our skin can influence inflammation, particularly in response to our diet and the microorganisms residing on our skin. This information yields new therapeutic options to reduce the burden of disease.

Dr. J.H. Nonnekes - Modulating arousal to overcome gait impairments in Parkinson's disease

Gait impairments affect every person living with Parkinson’s disease, yet this debilitation symptom improves insufficiently with current treatments. Gait typically deteriorates when arousal is heightened, for example due to fear or stress. In this project, we investigate the underlying mechanisms, and how potential treatment works. Arousal influences the strength of interactions in the brain, like tuning the volume of a radio. We expect that when arousal increases too much, communication between brain regions is no longer effective, and as a result, gait disorders become worse; sometimes even leading to freezing of gait. We will test this by measuring brain activity during walking.

The Vidi is awarded annually by NWO. Of the 829 applications (432 male, 378 female, 19 gender-neutral), 102 were awarded this time: 52 to male and 50 to female candidates.

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