The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Veni funding to 188 promising researchers, including four from Amsterdam Neuroscience. This will allow the laureates to further develop their own research ideas over the next three years.

Amsterdam UMC


Lisa Vermunt

Lisa Vermunt, Postdoctoral researcher at Alzheimer Centrum of Amsterdam UMC, receives the Veni Grant for detecting failing star-shaped brain cells in Alzheimer's disease with novel biomarkers for better prognosis and therapy.

Alzheimer’s dementia affects millions of patients worldwide. Individualized patient information and preventive treatments are hampered by a long and unpredictable gap from the start of Alzheimer in the brain to the onset of dementia. The researchers aim to bridge this gap by studying novel laboratory tests for astrocyte failure. Astrocytes make up 20-40% of the brain cells and are essential for the brain’s food supply and energy balance. By tracing astrocyte failure with laboratory tests, we will better understand how Alzheimer evolves, which contributes to precise forecasting and faster treatment availability.



Arthur Buijink

Arthurt Buijink, Neurologist at Amsterdam UMC, has been awarded the Veni Grant to further investigate personalized deep brain stimulation in patients with essential tremor.

Essential tremor is a common movement disorder leading to shaking of the arms during movement. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment where electrodes are placed deep in the brain, and block the “tremor circuit” by electric current. However, many patients experience troublesome side-effects like balance and coordination difficulties. Buijink aims to implement advanced MRI techniques in clinical practice, with the goal of individualizing treatment and reducing side effects.

Also read: “Arthur Buijink receives ZonMw Off Road grant to investigate closed-loop DBS in patients with essential tremor”



Laura Han

Laura Han, Postdoctoral researcher at the department of Psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC, receives the Veni Grant for her research ‘Understanding biological aging: the key to a healthier and happier life’.

Depression and anxiety can significantly shorten the lifespan, but the reasons for this are poorly understood. This project aims to use advanced tools to measure "biological aging" in individuals with stress-related disorders, to uncover their key drivers, prognostic value, and the potential for reversal following treatment.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam



Femke Feringa

Cell biologist Femke Feringa is a Postdoctoral researcher at CNCR of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who received the Veni Grant for her research ‘Cell aging in Alzheimer's disease the key to therapy’.

We still do not know how Alzheimer's disease develops and therefore there are no curative treatment options. Increased accumulation of aged (senescent) cells may possibly contribute to the development of Alzheimer's. Feringa is generating astrocytes from human induced stem cells to investigate how the Alzheimer's risk mutation APOE4 contributes to aging of these cells. The mechanistic insights thus gained are crucial for the development of new Alzheimer's therapies targeting these aging cells.