VICI-grant for Coen Ottenheijm!

Professor Coen Ottenheijm (department of Physiology, VUmc) has been awarded the prestigious VICI-grant. VICI (1.5M€) is one of the largest scientific grants for individuals in the Netherlands and targets advanced, excellent researchers. This year, 32 scientists received this grant. They were selected from 239 applicants.

Professor Ottenheijm focuses on the diaphragm, the main muscle of respiration. The diaphragm is composed of an intricate clockwork of numerous proteins. Inherited defects in these proteins make the clockwork lock, with life-threatening diseases as a result. A prominent example of such a disease is nemaline myopathy. The group of Ottenheijm studies how the clockwork locks, how this contributes to respiratory failure in nemaline myopathy patients, and which keys there are to unlock. In his research, Ottenheijm collaborates with physicists at VU University to develop novel techniques and with neurologists at Radboudumc to apply these techniques in patients.