The Gerrit Jan Mulder Foundation annually awards a prize to two Erasmus MC students. By doing so, the foundation hopes to stimulate the exchange of information between researchers. Research master's student Koen van der Kuil and medical student Frédérique Bienfait won this year's award.
Epilepsy in brain tumors
Koen van der Kuil investigated how aggressive brain tumors can cause epileptic seizures. He used an advanced measurement technique, which allowed him to measure the activity of more than a hundred nerve cells simultaneously in a tumor mouse model. "This allowed me to see specific patterns in brain activity around the tumor areas that are related to the onset and spread of epileptic seizures.
For him, the Gerrit Jan Mulder thesis award recognizes a research project in which he and colleagues attempted to answer both fundamental and clinical questions. 'I look back on an instructive and fun period at the lab at the Department of Neuroscience, for which I am grateful,' he reveals. With the prize money, he plans to support his future research plans, which he may further develop during a PhD program in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery.
Therapy in sickle cell disease
Frédérique Bienfait joined a lab at Boston Children's Hospital in the United States for her master's research. This lab is researching a low-threshold therapy for people with sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that has a major impact worldwide. People with sickle cell disease have a shorter life expectancy compared to those with a normal form of the blood cell, due to the severe complications of the disease.
During her research, Frédérique focused specifically on the protein BCL11A, which is a key element in the switch from fetal hemoglobin to the adult mutated sickle hemoglobin. She studied its interaction and binding with another protein, NuRD. "I discovered that if you make it impossible for both proteins to bind, then BCL11A is degraded faster in the cell. Turning BCL11A off produces fetal hemoglobin again, reversing the disease, so to speak." she says.
Working in the lab took getting used to, Frédérique acknowledges. "But after I mastered some more techniques, I realized that this is what I want: to be both a doctor and a researcher. With the prize money, Frédérique will once again travel to Boston, where she now works. And she will treat her colleagues to a large home-baked cake. "Also, after eight years of studying, my laptop needs replacing, so I plan to put some money into that as well," she concludes.
Read more about the Gerrit Jan Mulder Foundation here (Dutch).
