Each year, ACS organizes grant rounds for the Postdoc grant, MD/PhD grant and the Out of the Box (OOTB) grant. The Postdoc and MD/PhD grants are for excellent young basic and clinical researchers, respectively, and aim to support talented ACS researchers. The Postdoc grant provides the opportunity to obtain postdoc experience for a period of one year in a prestigious research center abroad. The MD/PhD grant covers one day a week protected research time for a two-year post-doctoral project for medical specialists in training. The OOTB grant aims at supporting ACS project leaders to set up new collaborations within ACS. For more information on the different grants, see the overview of ACS grants.
Two laureates tell what the ACS grant has brought them:
Barbara Verhaar - ACS Postdoc grant 2024
The ACS Talent Grant 2024 enabled me to further develop my research on host-microbe interactions in cardiovascular disease at Amsterdam UMC. I focused on identifying microbial salt resistace genes in gut metagenomic data from the HELIUS cohort, in collaboration with several Principal Investigators within ACS. During this project, I strengthened my bioinformatics skills and built a new pipeline to profile these genes at scale. This led to preliminary findings showing that a higher abundance of certain salt resistance genes is associated with lower blood pressure. These results formed a key part of my successful NWO Veni application and helped shape my independent research line. The grant also gave me the opportunity to expand my network within ACS, laying the groundwork for future interdisciplinary collaborations.
Stijn Meijnikman – ACS MD/PhD grant 2024
The ACS Talent Grant 2024 enabled me to further develop my research on the role of endogenous ethanol production in the gut and its contribution to intestinal cellular senescence. This project allowed me to expand earlier observations into a coherent research line, combining human cohorts, experimental models, and multi-omics approaches.
Through this grant, I was able to generate key preliminary data and refine the central hypothesis that gut-derived ethanol acts as a previously underappreciated metabolic stressor driving cellular senescence and metabolic dysfunction. Importantly, the work supported by this grant formed the basis for my successful NWO Veni application, which allowed me to continue and significantly scale this research program.
Multiple follow-up projects have since emerged from the ACS-funded work, and the grant proved instrumental in shaping my independent research profile. Looking back, this funding provided both the scientific freedom and momentum that were crucial for the next phase of my career.
Laureates 2025
Awarded grants 2025
| Name | Grant | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Josephine Tan | Postdoc | Unraveling Smooth Muscle Cell Fate Dynamics in Thoracic Aortic Disease |
| Micah Heldeweg | MD-PhD | Tailored ICU Deresuscitation and Electrolyte management (Rising TIDE) |
| Debbie Kalkman | MD-PhD | Diagnostic potential of the electrocardiogram during pregnancy (CARRIAGE project) |
| Anna-Linda Peters & Ton van Leeuwen | Out of the Box | Measuring the unmeasurable: resonance Raman laser spectroscopy for measurement of organ mitochondrial oxygen pressure |
| Nick Bijsterveld & Jan van den Bossche | Out of the Box | Exercise versus passive hyperthermia versus combined heat + exercise in Grugada Syndrome: clinical, biochemical and immune signatures in the VU Climate Chamber |
| Monika Gladka & Diederik Kuster | Out of the Box | Establishing a Living Myocardial Slice Platform for Cardiac Disease Modeling and Therapy Testing |
Work visit grant
| Naam | Location |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Overeem | University of Sao Paulo |
| Kimberley Hemelrijk | Mount Sinai, New York |
| Margriet Bogerd | King's College London |
| Marion van Vugt | University College London |
| Oluwatomisono Akinrimisi | University of British Columbia |
Laureates 2024
| Name | Grant | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Marion van Vugt | Postdoc | Genetically guided drug target identification in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy |
| Barbara Verhaar | Postdoc | Uncovering the salt-resistant microbiome: insights into intestinal sodium absorption and hpertension |
| Stijn Meijnikman | MD/PhD | Inhibiting endogenous ethanol to decrease the burden of intestinal cellular senescence |
| Frits Mulder | MD/PhD | Towards prevention of arterial thrombosis in cancer: identifying critical risk factors |
| Marc Hilhorst and Annette Neele | Out of the Box | Monocyte activation by proteinuria in patients with chronic kidney disease |
| Nimrat Grewal and Arjan Houweling | Out of the Box | Genetic and Epigenomic Insights into Thoracic Aortopathy (GENIE-TA) |
Laureates 2023
| Name | Grant | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Elga de Vries and Inge Mulder | Equipment | Awake animal movement platform (Mobile Home Cage) and accompanying software |
| Pim van Oij and Marco Götte | Equipment | Smart-sync device provided by Northh Medical GmbH |
| Alexander Vlaar | Equipment | Two CytoCam Incident Dark Field (IDF) microcirculation cameras |
| Chantal van Opbergen | Postdoc | DNA damage and loss of nuclear envelope integrity as triggers of sudden cardiac death in the young |
| Melany Rios Morales | Postdoc | Unraveling fructose catabolism: Intestinal fructose-driven gluconeogenesis as an anti-obesity mechanism |
| Ilias Attaye | MD/PhD | Sex- and ethnic specific metabolism of dietary acid load in chronic kidney disease and cardio-metabolic disease |
| Jeroen Wessels | MD/PhD | The right heart phenotype and clinical outcomes in pulmonary hypertension |
| Vivian de Waard and Peter Hordijk | Out of the Box | Marfan syndrome iPSC-derived endothelial flow alignment and inflammation propagation |
| Louis Handoko and Joris de Groot | Out of the Box | The Epicardial Adipose Tissue/Myocardium IntEraction in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (EAT/MIE-HFpEF) study: a proteome analysis of the EAT secretome |
| Rio Juni and Marten Hoeksema | Out of the Box | Cardiac immuno-microvascular interface in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction |
| Anke Tijsen and Jan Willem Buikema | Out of the Box | Boosting hiPSC-CM genome-editing efficiency via small molecular GSK3 inhibition |
| Jan van den Bossche and Lily Jakulj | Out of the Box | Human peritoneal macrophage phenotype and its relation to systemic inflammation and cardiac function |
| Pim van Ooij and Lilian Meijboom | Out of the Box | Cardiac 4D flow MRI in pulmonary hypertension |
| Daniel van Raalye and Irene van Valkengoed | Out of the Box | Deciphering the Role of Sex Hormones in Kidney Function: A Comprehensive Proteomic Analysis |
| Noam Zelcer en Diederik Kuster | Out of the Box | The mystery of ApoB: A tale of cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes |
Laureates 2022
| Name | Grant | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Elena Rampanelli/Daniel van Raalte/Peter Henneman | Equipment | GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler for spatial multiomics data |
| Abraham Hulst/Jeroen Hermanides, Denise Veelo/Daniel van Raalte/Alexander Vlaar | Equipment | Monitor for non-invasive measurement of urinary oxygenation |
| Jan Van den Bossche/Tyler Kirby | Equipment | Add-ons for a new AXR confocal microscope |
| Aida Llucià-Valldeperas/Frances de Man | Equipment | Extension for the FlexCell Tissue Train 3D culture system |
| Louis Handoko/Ot Bakersmans/Harm Jan Bogaard/Frances de Man | Equipment | Hemosphere monitor system for complete hemodynamic profiles in patients |
| Ilias Attaye | Postdoc | Identification of post-prandial gut-derived metabolites in cardio-metabolic health, with an emphasis on sex andethnic-specific associations |
| Lucía Cócera Ortega | Postdoc | Spatial cellular and transcriptomic map of Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy |
| Mark Smits | Postdoc | Evaluating the role of sphinganine in GLP-1 secretion (‘SPHINGS’) |
| Pranav Bhagirath, Cardiology | Postdoc | Computational modelling combined with high-resolution 3D cardiac MRI in patients with ventricular arrhythmia: towards improving procedural efficacy of catheter ablation |
| Femke Piersma | Nursing Research | Complications of electrical cardioversion for atrial fibrillation, a step towards a predictive model |
| Peter Hordijk/Jeffrey Kroon | Out of the Box | The role of autophagy in healthy and inflamed 3D microvessels |
| Gijs Kooij/Jan Van den Bossche/Noam Zelcer | Out of the Box | Reprogramming foam cells with bioactive lipid mediator |
| Reinier Boon/Vincent Christoffels/Harsha Devalla | Out of the Box | Non-coding RNA control of a novel familial arrhythmia syndrome |
| Harm Jan Bogaard/Louis Handoko/Max Nieuwdorp/Erik Duijvelaar: | Out of the Box | EMPHOWER: Empagliflozin for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Patients with Exclusive Comorbidities |
| Frances de Man/Menno de Winther | Out of the Box | Creating a cell culture model to study the role of resident macrophages on cardiac adaptation to pressure overload |
| Bianca Brundel/Bas Boukens | Out of the Box | Atrial Fibrillation detection in Lmna mutant mice by an innovative ex vivo precision approach: dissection role of bio-electrical impairment |
| Elena Rampanelli/Daniel van Raalte | Out of the Box | Microbiome-induced expression of regenerating Islet-derived protein 1B to rescue loss of functional beta cells in diabetes and associated cardiovascular complications |
| Josine de Winter/Michel van Weeghel | Out of the Box | Unraveling a novel pathomechanism in a novel cardiomyopathy |
| Lily Jakulj/Marc Vervloet/Michiel Pegtel | Out of the Box | Peritoneal Dialysis Effluent-derived Extracellular Vesicles (PDE-EVs) to characterize cardiovascular risk in peritoneal dialysis |
Laureates 2021
| Name | Grant | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Marjet Oppelaar/Rosa Wouda/Liffert Vogt /Marc Vervloet | Equipment | Four-Element Flame Photometer for biochemical analysis |
| Aart Nederveen/Pim van Ooij/Paul Groot | Equipment | AI compute node for advanced MR imaging techniques |
| Inge Mulder | Equipment | Long wavelength tunable laser for a multiphoton microscope |
| Jan Van den Bossche/Elga de Vries | Equipment | Biotek Cytation 5 upgrade for advanced imaging |
| Marco Götte | Equipment | 12-lead ECG monitoring and recording system for MRI |
| Laura Bosmans | Postdoc | Targeting Glucocorticoid-Induced TNF Family-Related Protein (GITR) in macrophages to combat atherosclerosis: Identification of GITR-TRAF Small Molecule Inhibitors |
| Arnout Mieremet | Postdoc | UnHiDe Marfan: Uncovering Haploinsufficient and Dominant Negative iPSC phenotypes in Marfan Syndrome |
| Alwin Zweerink | MD/PhD | Conduction System Pacing - MECHanical ANd electrICal Study (CSP-MECHANICS) |
| Stefanie van Oostrum | Nursing Research | Pre-operative Nurse Assessment in Cardiothoracic Surgical Patients: A mixed-methods process evaluation of a complex intervention |
| Marja Holierook | Nursing Research | Is Edmonton Frailty Scale assessment before Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation a good predictor of negative outcomes? |
| Reinier Boon/Monika Gladka | Out of the Box | Single nuclei RNA sequencing to study the human diseased heart |
| Bianca Brundel/Anke Tijsen | Out of the Box | Culturing of LMNA hiPSC-derived atrial cardiomyocytes to dissect mechanism underlying atrial fibrillation |
| Vivian de Waard/Kakkhee Yeung/Connie Jimenez | Out of the Box | What drives the engine of the aortic aneurysm: identifying (phospho)proteins at the center of vascular smooth muscle cell contractile dysfunction |
| Esther Lutgens/Ed Eringa/Reinier Zandbergen | Out of the Box | SARS-CoV2 infection of perivascular adipose tissue and hyperinflammation in COVID-19 |
| Max Nieuwdorp/Elena Rampanelli/Barbara Verhaar/Daniel van Raalte | Out of the Box | The role of gut microbiota and its metabolites in blood pressure regulation |
Laureates 2020
| Name | Grant | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Fleur Tjong | Postdoc | Deep learning for identification of ICD patients at risk of lethal cardiac arrhythmias: The deep risk ICD Study |
| Annette Neele | Postdoc | Targeting the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) in atherosclerosis by small molecule drugs |
| Najim Lahrouchi | MD/PhD | Personalized medicine for patients with the long QT syndrome |
| Nick van Es | MD/PhD | Combining clinical and genetic risk factors to identify cancer patients at high risk of arterial and venous thromboembolism: a new challenge in cardio-oncology |
| Menno de Winther/Jan Van den Bossche/Max Nieuwdorp/Maarten Soeters | Out of the Box | Promoting immune health by intermittent fasting: taming the monocytes? |
| Liffert Vogt/Majon de Boer/Marie van Dijk | Out of the Box | Investigating placental non-osmotic sodium buffering across pregnancy |
| Meeike Kusters/Barbara Hutten | Out of the Box | The search for new biomarkers in risk stratification: towards a tailor made treatment for young patients with familial hypercholesterolemia |
| Harm Jan Bogaard/Harry Buller/Josien Smits/Azar Kianzad | Out of the Box | Detecting CTEPH with educated platelets: a case-control study |