European grant for research into relationship between DNA damage and Alzheimer’s disease

Professor Jan Hoeijmakers of the Erasmus MC has acquired a European grant for his Dementia research. The grant involves an amount of 150,000 euros.

This is a so-called proof-of-concept grant intended for academics who are already receiving a European grant for their fundamental research and who have ideas for new commercial or social applications. The grants, up to a maximum of 150,000 euros, can be used for patent applications or to set up a company, for example.

Dementia stands for DNA rEpair impaired Mice with accElerated Neurodegeneration as Tool to Improve Alzheimer therapeutics. Hoeijmakers discovered that DNA damage can cause numerous old-age-related diseases. The new grant will be primarily used to focus research on the relationship between DNA damage and Alzheimer’s disease.

The Netherlands acquires most grants

On Thursday, 59 grants were awarded to academics in 15 different countries. The Netherlands, at 11 grants, was awarded the highest number, followed by the United Kingdom (8), Spain (8) and France (6). This is the second round for 2014. In total 120 applications were granted and 61 winners were already announced in the first round, including four from the Netherlands. ES