5 November 2020 NWO-Veni grants for Isabel Misteli Guerreiro and Christian Büll Back to news The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a Veni grant worth up to 250,000 to two highly promising young scientists at the Hubrecht Institute: Isabel Misteli Guerreiro (group of Jop Kind) and Christian Büll (group of Hans Clevers). The grant provides the laureates with the opportunity to further elaborate their own ideas during a period of three years. Early embryonic development at single-cell resolution Embryonic development starts from one single cell that eventually gives rise to a complex organism made up of many different cell types and organs. Isabel Misteli Guerreiro wants to understand how cells choose different fates in the very first days of development, when the embryo is composed of only very few cells. Better understanding this process has multiple applications in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. With her Veni grant, Guerreiro will use a novel single-cell technique to uncover how cells follow different fates throughout developmental time. This Veni grant provides me with three years of funding to perform this very challenging project and it is a stepping stone into my own independent research. Sweet Gut O’ Mine The inside of the human gut is covered with a thick layer of sugar molecules. This layer is hard to access, making research into its biological role difficult. As a result, many biological functions of these sugars are unknown. Christian Büll will use intestinal organoids, mini-guts with a size of around 1mm, to investigate how these sugars contribute to normal functions of the intestine and explore their role in colorectal cancer development. The Veni grant enables me to explore how sugar molecules fulfill important functions in the intestine and how they are involved in colorectal cancer development.
