Twelve scientists from various research fields are receiving a KNAW Early Career Award. With this prize, the KNAW recognizes the scientific talent of young researchers who are conducting innovative and original research. The recipients will receive €15,000 and a unique piece of artwork. The research of these scientists is highly diverse, ranging from studies on grief in children, predicting aortic aneurysms, the impact of major social changes on our lives, to the collaboration between biological medications and our gut flora.

APH researcher and Vascular Surgeon Kak Khee Yeung received the KNAW Early Career Award 2024. Yeung combines clinical expertise with groundbreaking scientific research on aneurysms. An aortic aneurysm is an enlargement of the body’s main artery that can rupture, unfortunately leading to death in more than eighty percent of cases. Currently, it is not possible to predict whether an aneurysm will rupture, and there is no medication available to treat a ruptured aneurysm. Yeung is focused on finding so-called biomarkers (measurable indicators) in the body that can predict disease progression in vascular patients with an aortic aneurysm. Yeung explores many methods for gaining insight, from establishing a biobank with cell lines and clinical data from a thousand different patients to creating in vitro 3D models and utilizing artificial intelligence.

Read more about the other researchers who have received the KNAW Early Career Award on KNAW (in Dutch).

This article has been shortened and translated from its original version from KNAW.