NWO Vidi en Veni awards for Hubrecht Institute

24 November 2009

Dr. Jacco van Rheenen, group leader at the Hubrecht Institute, has been awarded a NWO Vidi award for his project entitled:

To spy on metastasis of mammary tumor cells in living mice (Influence of extracellular matrix remodeling by stromal cells on invasion and intravasation of mammary tumor cells)

Description: Complications that are caused by metastasis are the primary reason why women die from breast cancer. Using new techniques based on microscopy, metastasis of single mammary tumor cells can be visualized in living mice. In mammary tumors in living mice, the mammary tumor cells will be visualized simultaneously with healthy non-tumor cells, such as immune cells. Using this technique it will be tested whether the non-tumor cells can support the metastasis of the mammary tumor cells. This knowledge can potentially be used to identify new targets in order to develop new drug to inhibit metastasis of breast tumors.


Earlier this month Hubrecht researcher Dr. Terhi Kärpänen received a Veni award for her work on Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Lymphatic Vascular Developmen.


The Hubrecht Institute is proud that again two researchers from the institute have been awarded these prestigious grants.