Youths’ involvement in organized crime is worrisome, as it not only disrupts a healthy development, but also aggravates youths’ criminal behavior, and makes it harder to return to living a crime-free life. Social ties play an import role in the way youths get and stay involved in organized crime, that is why interventions are needed that target the youth, but also the youth’s social environment. We examine hotspots and mechanisms underlying organized crime involvement and use the knowledge gained to improve and implement intervention strategies. This way, the proposed project directly contributes to effectively decreasing youths’ involvement in organized crime.

The immune system is able to recognize and eliminate cancer cells when it is optimally activated. Cancer vaccines that can activate the immune system are expected to work synergistically with other treatments to improve the survival of cancer patients. Previously, we have demonstrated that Siglec-1/CD169-expressing macrophages can stimulate very strong immune responses. Our aim is to develop a new type of cancer nanovaccine that specifically targets cancer antigens to Siglec-1/CD169-expressing macrophages. In this project we will generate nanobodies that specifically can bind human Siglec-1/CD169 and incorporate these in cancer vaccines to enable efficient uptake by Siglec-1/CD169-expressing macrophages and the activation of immune responses that can eliminate cancer.

Regenerative medicine has made progress over the last years, but in the Netherlands, the field is still not well-connected. The field depends on research that combines different areas like stem cell technology, physics, bioelectronics, AI, medicine, and more. To create a clear national plan, experts from the NWA-route regenerative medicine and Stichting Toekomstbeeld der Techniek will work together. They will hold workshops and do research to understand important developments in technology, science, and society. The results will help create a strategy for the future of regenerative medicine and guide funding and policy decisions.

The grant-writing and presenting weekend revolves around communicating science in a broad sense: How can we shape and explain complex research ideas to peers and form strong, multidisciplinary collaborations to improve pediatric care? And how do we effectively translate these results to patient care and those involved? That is the primary goal of this meeting - stimulating those involved in pediatrics to enhance their skills in communication, presentation and visualization. With interactive lectures and workshops, we promote a broad professional network and shape the communicative skills of those attending to form the future leaders in pediatric science.

Research on information processing in the brain previously focused mainly on communication between neurons. However, in recent years it has emerged that a non-neuronal cell, the astrocyte, which was previously seen as a kind of support cell of your brain, also plays a role in memory and cognition. Astrocytes do this by forming connections with both neurons and blood vessels in the brain. Which molecules are involved in these connections is largely unknown. In SUPERGLUE we use advanced techniques to map these molecules and cellular interactions, taking an important step in our understanding of information processing by the brain.