Amsterdam Neuroscience researcher Tom Sa'ar Halperin will use his Mosaic 2.0 grant of more than 300,000 euros to conduct his PhD research on the role of B1 cells in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). During his studies at the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience of Amsterdam UMC, he has already written a review on B1 cells that was published in the journal Biomedicines.

The involvement of a new B-blood cell in multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a severe, neurological disorder affecting young adults and causing cognitive and motoric disability. The cause of the disease is, despite extensive research, still unknown. Halperin and his colleagues will use human tissue from brain and blood donors to investigate how a newly discovered group of immune cells (B1- cells) contribute to the disease progression. In addition, they will use modern biomedical and high-resolution microscopy techniques to characterize these cells inside the brain. Ultimately, the researchers hope to identify new treatment targets for MS.

Mosaic 2.0

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) awarded thirteen PhD candidates who will start with their PhD research. The PhD scholarship program is aimed at the group of graduates with a migration background from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America and Turkey, who are underrepresented in the Netherlands. With this, Mosaic 2.0 aims to promote the further development of an inclusive work environment within Dutch universities.

Profile picture of Tom Halperin

Read the review of Tom Halperin and colleagues Bert ‘t Hart, Antonio Luchicchi and Geert Schenk, in Biomedicines: The Forgotten Brother: The Innate-like B1 Cell in Multiple Sclerosis

Source: NWO