Two researchers from the Radboudumc receive a grant from the NWO within the Open Competition of the Exact and Natural Sciences. Pieter Leermakers, who studies the kidneys will receive an amount of up to 50,000 euros for their research initiative.
The Open Competition ENW – XS grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) consists of a maximum amount of € 50,000. The grant is intended to enable promising ideas and innovative and risky initiatives within the seven ENW disciplines. The proposed research is groundbreaking and it is not certain in advance whether the intended objective will be achieved. What counts is that each result advances science, both positively and negatively.
Pieter Leermakers: Tracking magnesium in the kidney with a microscope
Magnesium is an important nutrient for the functioning of the human body. The amount of magnesium is precisely regulated, with the kidney determining how much magnesium is excreted through the urine and how much is retained in the body. Because it is currently impossible to look at this process in living organisms, biomedical scientist Pieter Leermakers will develop a customized state-of-the-art research technique in this project that will study this process in living organisms for the first time. This technique will result in a wide range of future applications, ranging from new fundamental knowledge about kidney function to identification of therapies that stimulate the reabsorption of magnesium.
Kidney Physiology 