Dr. Nagelkerke receives NWO XS grant

Dr. Anika Nagelkerke of the Groningen Research Institute for Pharmacy (GRIP) has been awarded a NWO XS grant worth EUR 50,000. She receives the grant for her project ‘Radiation-responsive nanoparticles for triggered drug release’.

Nano-sized particles have great potential in medicine as a system for drug delivery. Particles that only release their cargo in response to specific cues are especially promising. These could deliver drugs to distinct sites in the body, to cancer cells for example. Nagelkerke will investigate whether externally applied radiation, in the form of radiotherapy, could act as such a trigger to release drugs from nanoparticles. She will develop customized nanoparticles for this purpose and load them with model drugs. These particles will be exposed to radiotherapy, after which it will be analyzed whether the drugs have indeed been released.

NWO Open Competition XS

The NWO Open XS category strives to encourage curiosity-driven and bold research involving a quick analysis of a promising idea. As a pilot, applicants are also an assessor in the XS assessment process.