News
iCNS kickoff
On December 3, 2024, the Institute for Chemical Neurosciences (iCNS) officially launched its groundbreaking 10-year research program funded by NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) with a dynamic kick-off event at Rode Hoed in Amsterdam. The day brought together the entire iCNS consortium and affiliated partners to set the stage for this ambitious initiative aimed at unraveling the molecular mechanisms behind neuropsychiatric symptoms.
See more
Nature Genetics Review
New perspectives on Alzheimer's disease: Spatial and single-cell transcriptomics are unlocking insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of AD. In our News & Views article for Nature Genetics Inge Holtman and Alexi Nott discuss how these approaches reveal shared and subtype-specific pathways.
See More
New Postdoc in our lab
We are thrilled to announce that Alejandro Marmoleja-Garza joined our lab in September 2024 as a post-doctoral fellow. As part of the ERC team, Alejandro will focus on developing brain organoids to model and study the neurobiology of mental illnesses. He is an exceptional addition to our team, having defended his PhD with Cum Laude in December 2024. Welcome, Alejandro!
Chan Zuckerberg Funding
We are excited to announce that the Holtman lab, in collaboration with the Netherlands Brain Bank, has been awarded €300,000 in funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) through the Neuropathology Collaboration Network Projects Program. The project, titled “AI-Driven Approaches for Advanced Clinical and Neuropathological Research in the Netherlands Brain Bank,” aims to apply state-of-the-art artificial intelligence models —including Large Language Models and advanced histopathology Semi Supervised Learning AI models—to transform the analysis of extensive medical records and microscopic neuropathological imaging data.
See More
Drinks to celebrate publications
Celebrating our Acta Neuropathologica and Nature Medicine papers with Pitch and Putt, food and drinks!
New Publication!
Our paper on MS neuropathology is published in Acta Neuropathologica! We identified 3 dimensions that may represent 1) demyelination & immune cell activity associated with progression, 2) microglia (re)activity & possibly lesion initiation, and 3) loss of lesion activity & scar formation. NBB donors’ scores on the dimensions can help to disentangle MS heterogeneity and can be found, along with relevant datasets, in the online supplementary files or on this website..
See More
iCNS Gravitation Funding
We were recently awarded Gravitation funding for “the Institute for Chemical Neuroscience (iCNS).” This initiative brings together research leaders from top Dutch institutions to map the brain's chemical landscapes.
See More
NND Project Paper in Nature Medicine
The foundational NND project paper by NJ Mekkes et al. is published in Nature Medicine. It identifies clinical symptoms and constructs clinical trajectories for various brain disorders.
See More
Welcome New Lab Members
We welcome Ekaterina Dagkesamanskaia and Tommaso Fortunato Asquini to the lab. Their work on neurobiology and multi-omics data integration will significantly enhance the NND.
Poster Presentation
Congratulations to Nienke Mekkes, MSc, for being awarded the BCN Poster prize in 2023!
See More
MS paper manuscript
The manuscript detailing the MS autopsy cohort of the NND is now available online on MedArchive, authored by Alyse de Boer, MSc, et al.
See More
ERC funding
Congratulations to Dr. Holtman for being awarded an ERC Starting Grant! This prestigious grant will support Dr. Holtman's groundbreaking research on the transcriptional landscape of neuronal subsets implicated in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder.
See More