KU Leuven: two academics awarded €5M ERC advanced research grants

KU Leuven researchers Peter Carmeliet and Bart De Strooper have each been awarded five year Advanced Grants from the European Research Council.

Carmeliet, of the VIB Vesalius Research Centre, KU Leuven, will receive approximately €2.5 million to further his research in developing new approaches to blocking vascular endothelial growth factor, in order to prevent tumours from developing blood supplies.

De Strooper of the VIB Department of Developmental and Molecular Genetics, KU Leuven, has been awarded €2.5 million to develop a new approach to researching the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, based on disrupting the expression of microRNA. It is hoped this will lay the foundation for new techniques to diagnose the disease and identify new targets for medication.