Her research project, EM-POWER, focuses on how social and lifestyle-related factors – which can be heritable – contribute to mental health. Sprooten aims to develop a new, non-deterministic biological approach that empowers individuals to break genetic influences. By combining innovative methods, she will investigate how heritable environmental factors link genetic vulnerability to mental health and whether these factors can be modified on a personal level.
The ERC Consolidator Grants, funded through the Horizon Europe programme, support excellent scientists in strengthening their independent research teams. This year, 328 researchers across Europe have been awarded grants, totalling €678 million.
For more information about the ERC grant and Emma Sprooten's project, read the press release of the Radboud university medical center.