The Dutch Cancer Society awarded ten Amsterdam UMC projects. Read more about these projects here. David Huels is awarded a Young Investigator grant for his colon cancer research.
David will study the influence of the extracellular matrix (ECM) on the intestinal lining during the formation and development of cancer. The ECM is dramatically changed by non-epithelial cells in the formation of the intestine, as well as during cancer development. Using newly characterized in vitro cultures, he will investigate the impact of the ECM on intestinal stem cells as well as mutated cancer cells. Early observations showed that changes in the ECM have a profound effect, not only on cellular identity and growth, but also on genomic stability, which all influence tumor formation.
