Alzheimer Nederland Research Talent award for Kim de Kleijn and Femke Feringa

Kim de Kleijn received the award in the category 2-4yr after the PhD for her excellent research on the modelling of microglial subtypes in iPSC-derived microglia, and their use in drug screening for Alzheimer’s disease. She was lauded for her impact on the Alzheimer field by organizing national and local meetings on microglia. Kim will use the prize money to thoroughly characterize the microglial subtypes to find disease processes related to specific subtypes, identify subtype specific markers that can be used in clinical trials, and work towards an understanding how microglia subtypes contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.

Femke Feringa received the award in the category 5-8yr after her PhD for her multi-omics studies on Alzheimer’s risk mutants, such as ApoE4, in iPSC-derived brain cell types. She was praised for the new insights she brings into the Alzheimer’s research field by combining her background in cancer cell biology with neurodegeneration research. Femke will use the prize money to further unravel how cellular senescence, a process that normally protects cells from turning cancerous, can instead drive brain aging and contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. With these insights, she aims to turn senescence from an Alzheimer’s culprit into a therapeutic target.