Vici grant for Professor of Neurology Marieke Wermer

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a Vici grant, worth up to €1.5 million, to Marieke Wermer, Professor of Neurology at the UMCG. This will enable her to develop an innovative line of research and set up her own research group for five years.

Vici is one of the largest scientific grants for individuals in the Netherlands and targets advanced researchers. The funding instrument enables researchers to pursue research of their own choice. This gives innovative research a boost and encourages the promotion of talent at scientific research institutes.

Research on transmission Cerebral amyloid angiopathy

The research project for which Wermer receives this grant is called: ‘From Blood to Brain - the transmissible potential of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy.’ 

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a major cause of intracerebral hemorrhage and dementia. It results from accumulation of the protein amyloid-beta in small cerebral vessels. Doctors once thought CAA developed only with aging, but new findings suggest CAA may sometimes spread like prion diseases: patients who received donor tissue during neurosurgery, or blood transfusions from donors later found to have CAA, appear at increased risk decades later. Wermer will investigate whether amyloid-beta can spread from blood to brain, and why some people are more susceptible to CAA than others. This knowledge may lead to safer care and novel prevention strategies.

More information

• Read more about Wermer's research.