Najim Lahrouchi is one of the five first recipients of the Ammodo Science Fellowship for his research on genetic origins of congenital heart disease, using big data. The fellowship enables researchers to expand their international networks and develop a vision for their future careers.
Unraveling the Genetic Mystery of Congenital Heart
Disease, One Cell at a Time
Najim Lahrouchi is on a mission to uncover the genetic origins of congenital heart
disease by investigating the correlation between genetic variation and various
types of heart defects. He does this by using the extensive database he has
established of clinical and genetic information from thousands of heart
patients, collected from large biobanks, hospitals, and researchers worldwide.
He aims to integrate this genetic data with innovative single-cell RNA
sequencing techniques that measure gene activity in the developing heart to
reveal causal relationships by using state-of-the art bioinformatic approaches.
This paves the way for improved diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart
disease.
Dr. Najim Lahrouchi
About the Ammodo Science Fellowship
The fellowship was awarded for the first time to 5 recipients. With this new
initiative Ammodo wants to allow early career researchers to dive into an
important research question at an international host institute. Each fellow
receives between €100.000 and €200.000 for their innovative research. Read more
about the Ammodo Science Fellowship and the other recipients here.