The ERC Consolidator Grant is designed to support researchers at the stage in which they aim to set up their own independent research team and research programme. The Consolidator Grant is worth up to two million euros.
ERC Consolidator Grant for research on cancer treatment, knowledge networks
Two Radboud University researchers are set to receive a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Lisa Genzel, a neurobiologist at the Donders Institute, will research how we build-up and update knowledge networks in our brain. Kim Bonger, of the Institute for Molecules and Materials, will study CAR T cell therapy as a method of cancer treatment.
SynCAR TS
Kim Bonger
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is a promising approach for cancer treatment with remarkable clinical outcomes. It involves the isolation of patients T cells that are genetically modified with an engineered antigen receptor to attack cancer cells. Despite the great promise, CAR T therapy is challenged by the occurrence of serious side effects, limited effectiveness, and an expensive and lengthy manufacturing process. To address these challenges, the researchers will develop a highly innovative, universal synthetic CAR (SynCAR) T cell platform where the antigen receptor is easily adaptable by using synthetic, functionalized targeting ligands to control T cell effector function.
To achieve this goal, Bonger will explore the use of highly reactive and activatable aryl nitrenium ions for protein modification, drug delivery and as novel class of therapeutics. In addition, she will develop innovative bioorthogonal chemistry to control CAR T activity in time and space with the ultimate goal to broaden the CAR T targeting landscape to solid tumors and beyond.
CreateKnow
Lisa Genzel
In everyday life, we acquire memories not just to reminisce about the past, but to extract important information that lets us build up knowledge about our world. For example, when we move to a new city, we will use the experiences of navigating through new streets to create a spatial map in our mind. Once we have this map, we can now easily update it and learn where a new restaurant is or how we can take a short-cut. While we all experience these effects in life, we don't currently know how this type of knowledge is encoded in the brain.
CreateKnow aims to discover how we build up and update our knowledge networks depending on the amount of previous experience we have. In this project, Genzel will investigate how mice, rats and humans learn a map of large environments and how they update new information to this map. In each species, the researchers can combine the behaviour with specific techniques. This will allow them to gain unprecedented insights into how we create knowledge networks in the brain, from a cell to a whole brain systems perspective.
Contact information
- Organizational unit
- Faculty of Science, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Donders Centre for Neuroscience, Donders Centre for Neuroscience - Neurobiology, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Synthetic Organic Chemistry
- About person
- Dr L.K.E. Genzel (Lisa)
- Theme
- Brain, Health & Healthcare