NWO XS grant for Onck

Prof. Patrick Onck of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials will receive EUR 50,000 of an XS grant from the Dutch Research Council (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijke Onderzoek, NWO).

With the XS grants, NWO strives to encourage curiosity-driven and bold research involving a quick analysis of a promising idea. A special aspect is that the applicants themselves assess the other applications.

Prof. Patrick Onck (Zernike Institute) | Is there a molecular connection between acute myeloid leukaemia and nuclear transport?

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) accounts for approximately 80% of all cases of adult leukaemia, with poor success rates for current treatments. Recently, a wide proteomic screening showed a remarkably strong connection between AML and nuclear transport, leading to the hypothesis that deficiencies in nuclear transport may play an important role in leukaemia. In the proposed research we aim to collect convincing molecular evidence to confirm this hypothesis. When successful, this will not only trigger a new research direction, it will also open up an entirely new angle in the development of therapeutic strategies for AML.