Grants

ERC grants

The European Research Council (ERC) grants are prestigious research grants for individual scientists. LUMC is proud to host over 30 researchers who have been awarded an ERC grant, ranging from talented starting group leaders to established professors. These ERC projects set LUMC at the forefront of ground-breaking research and scientific innovation worldwide.

LUMC is delighted to be/have been the Host Institution of 44 ERC projects in total: 2 Synergy grants, 10 Advanced grants, 8 Consolidator grants, 17 Starting grants and 7 Proof of Concept grants.

Below the ongoing ERC projects at LUMC

ERC Proof of Concept Grants

Start date:
01 May 2025 – End date: 31 October 2026


Abstract:
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance, progressive in nature and associated with high morbidity and mortality. Thus, an effective and broadly applicable treatment to quickly restore normal rhythm at any time and place is highly desired. However, such therapy is lacking. In contrast to drugs and ablation, electrical cardioversion of AF is effective in broad populations of AF patients, but can only performed within hospitals because of the required patient sedation due to the use of high-voltage shocks. This undesired delay in treatment, huge hospital workload, and impact on patient mobility, further signifies the need for the development of new treatment strategies. To overcome these challenges and meet this need for new therapeutics, my group developed the concept of optoelectronic cardiac rhythm control. This approach is based on the paradigm that arrhythmia termination for restoration of normal rhythm can be achieved by appropriately timed generation of bioelectrical currents by the arrhythmic heart itself. To enable such shock-free and therefore pain-free AF termination, cardiac tissue will be optogenetically modified to express light-sensitive proteins. A small implantable optical defibrillator will trigger the release of light pulses by a multi-electrode LED array upon automated AF detection. Our recent results in rodents show that this indeed results in pain-free and immediate AF termination, thus overcoming the drawbacks of electrical cardioversion. To realize valorisation towards clinical exploration, Opto-AF-Therapy will focus on the optimization of the expression cassette for optogenetic modification of atrial tissue and conduct first proof-of-principle large animal studies. Complementary to these activities, my team will establish an IP strategy, file relevant patent application(s), conduct thorough market analyses and condense all findings into a business case to present to potential partners & investors.  

Read more: EC website

Completed ERC Grant project at LUMC

About ERC

Logo ERCThe ERC provides attractive, long-term funding to support excellent investigators to pursue ground-breaking, high-gain/ high-risk research. Research funded by the ERC is expected to lead to advances at the frontiers of knowledge and to set a clear and inspirational target for frontier research across Europe. The ERC was launched in 2007 and is currently part of Horizon Europe, the EU programme for Research and Innovation.