News archive

A map of chromatin accessibility in the developing human brain

A collaboration between Marijn Schipper and Danielle Posthuma from CNCR-CTG and Camiel Mannens and Sten Linnarsson from the Karolinska Institute Sweden has led to the publication of the first map of chromatin accessibility and paired gene expression in the entire developing early embryonic human brain. The study is published May 1, 2024 in Nature.

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PoC grant awarded to Sara L. Seoane and Ilan Libedinsky

PhD candidates Sara L. Seoane and Ilan Libedinsky, with supervisor Professor Martijn van den Heuvel, have been awarded a Proof of Concept (PoC) grant for €66.000 from Amsterdam Neuroscience for their innovative research on characterizing the evolution of brain aging and its potential link to brain disorders.

Foto Ilan Libedinsky Sara Seoane
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PoC grant awarded to Tanya Phung

Tanya Phung, a post-doctoral researcher working in the group of Professor Danielle Posthuma, has been awarded a Proof of Concept (PoC) grant for €55.000 from Amsterdam Neuroscience.

Foto Tanya Phung
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PoC grant awarded to Karen Laupman and Nathaniel Bell

PhD candidates Karen Laupman and Nathaniel Bell, with supervisors Associate Professor Vivi Heine and Professor Danielle Posthuma, have been awarded a Proof of Concept (PoC) grant for €55.000 from Amsterdam Neuroscience for their innovative research on repurposing drugs specifically for schizophrenia (SCZ).

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Reward sensitivity plays a role in youth crime

Boys who associate with delinquent friends are more likely to display antisocial behavior. A new study by neuroscientists and behavior experts from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Amsterdam UMC, led by CNCR colleague Jorim Tielbeek (dept. of Complex Trait Genetics) shows that this association is stronger in boys with an increased sensitivity to reward.

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Best Student Paper Award awarded to Ilan Libedinsky

The paper of CNCR researcher Ilan Libedinsky “Genetic timeline of human brain and cognitive traits” has been awarded the Best Student Paper Award at the 23rd annual conference of the International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR), held in Berkeley, California, from July 27-29, 2023.

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Novel insights in cellular mechanisms of 4H Leukodystrophy

Dr. Stephanie Dooves, Liza Kok and colleagues performed a study aiming to enhance our understanding of the disease mechanisms behind 4H leukodystrophy. This study, performed under the supervision of Dr. Vivi Heine and Prof. Nicole Wolf, provides the first insights into the cellular mechanisms underlying 4H leukodystrophy.

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Exploring the genetic overlap among twelve psychiatric disorders

In a study published in Nature Genetics, Cato Romero, Mats Nagel, and Sophie van der Sluis teamed up with colleagues from the Complex Trait Genetics department and the Million Veteran Program to scrutinize the genetic similarity of twelve psychiatric disorders. Besides identifying shared genes and biological substrates between pairs of disorders, they also elucidated the challenges jeopardizing the future success of cross-trait genetic research.

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Genetic variants influencing longitudinal brain changes

Rachel Brouwer (assistant professor CNCR - CTG) recently published her work in Nature Neuroscience. The study is a large-scale collaboration of research groups worldwide and identifies genetic variants that are associated with the speed of structural brain changes over time.

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Stephanie Dooves awarded a grant from the TSC fonds

With the €30.000 grant Stephanie Dooves will use patient-derived stem cell models to study Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) disease mechanisms in the project “Targeting astrocytes to improve neuronal functioning in TSC”.

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Martijn van den Heuvel awarded ERC Consolidator Grant

Computational neuroscientist Martijn van den Heuvel has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). Over the next five years he will study connections in the brain and the role they play in how the brain functions.

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Jeanne Savage has been awarded a Veni grant

The Veni grant is worth up to 250,000 euros and this year 161 highly promising young scientists received this grant by NWO. The grant provides the laureates with the opportunity to further elaborate their own ideas during a period of three years. The study of Jeanne Savage concerns ‘Exploring the heterogeneous genetic origins of alcohol misuse’.

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PI Tinca Polderman receives large grant from NWO

Netherlands Autism Register (NAR) of the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam obtains grant of 1,5 million euro to extend and enrich the NAR with genetic data, online neuropsychological tests, and online interventions

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Functional consequences of genes for intelligence

A joint effort between the groups of Gerome Breen of the Institute of Psychiatry, London and Danielle Posthuma of the CNCR-CTG, highlights functional consequences of genes associated with intelligence, published March 8, in Molecular Psychiatry.

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Rare Copy Number Variants found for Tourette Syndrome

An international team of researchers, including Danielle Posthuma of the VU & VUMC Amsterdam, identified Rare Copy Number Variants in NRXN1 and CNTN6 that increase the risk for Tourette Syndrome. The findings were published in Neuron, June 21.

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PhD student Anke Hammerschlag finds genes for insomnia

An international team of researchers has found, for the first time, seven risk genes for insomnia. With this finding the researchers have taken an important step towards the unravelling of the biological mechanisms that cause insomnia. In addition, the finding proves that insomnia is not, as is often claimed, a purely psychological condition. Today, Nature Genetics publishes the results of this research.

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Scientists find new genetic roots for intelligence

An international research team led by Prof Danielle Posthuma from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands, has made a major advance in understanding the genetic underpinnings of intelligence. Using a large dataset of more than 78,000 individuals with information on DNA genotypes and intelligence scores, the team discovered novel genes and biological routes for intelligence.

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Tinca Polderman on the overlap between ADHD & autism

17 December 2016: Tinca Polderman’s expert opinion about the overlap between ADHD and autism in the Dutch ‘Volkskrant’, and about parental influences on children’s behavior (not much!) in the German ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’.

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