Honors, Awards and Grants

2026

  • United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Rising Star Award. The UEG Rising Star Award recognises early career achievements and provides a durable platform for young researchers to further evolve their careers. The awardees are selected based on a track record of international quality research and developing scientific independence. 

2025

  • Young Initiative on Crohn’s and Colitis (Young-ICC) Best IBD Paper Award (2025). Awarded for the best IBD paper written by junior IBD scientists from the Netherlands.
  • ‘Y-ECCO Abstract Award’ (2025). Award given to the 5 best-ranked abstracts submitted to the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) conference in Berlin, Germany.
  • University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) EVA Seed Grant (2025). ‘Utilizing redox-related and inflammatory biomarkers to evaluate female health in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.’ Awarded €10,000.
  • EU Horizon Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) grant ‘INTERCEPT’ (101194780) (co-applicant). Awarded €883,000.

2024

  • United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Top Abstract Award (top 5 best-ranked abstracts submitted to UEG Week 2024). Awarded €10,000.
  • Nederlandse Vereniging voor Gastro-Enterologie (NVGE) / Dutch Society for Gastroenterology, Gastroinestinale Proefschriftprijs / Best Thesis Award (2024). Second prize.
  • Dioraphte Foundation / Stichting Dioraphte (2024). ‘Het ontrafelen van immunologische triggers van een zeldzame ernstige auto-immuunziekte van de galwegen.’ Awarded €350,000.
  • ECCO Top 10 Digital Oral Presentation Award (2024). Award for one of the best oral abstract presentations given at the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Y-ECCO Abstract Award (2024). Award given to the 5 best-ranked abstracts submitted to the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

2023

  • Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences / Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) De Boer-Van Staveren Fund (2023). ‘Identificatie van immunologische triggers van IgG4-gerelateerde ziekte’. Awarded €50,000.
  • Co-applicant Horizon Europe consortium grant ‘ID-DarkMatter-NCD’ (HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-03) (2023). Awarded €850,000.
  • Gratama Foundation / Groningen University Fund (GUF) grant (2023). ‘Ontrafeling van het antilichaamrepertoire van IgG4-gerelateerde ziekte.’ Awarded €25,000.
  • NWO Rubicon Grant (2023). ‘Early detection of inflammatory bowel disease by high-throughput profiling of the human immune system’. Awarded €115,500.

2022

  • PSC Partners ‘Seeking a Cure’ Foundation grant (2022). ‘Unraveling the immune triggers of primary sclerosing cholangitis with and without concomitant inflammatory bowel disease’. Awarded €60,000.
  • UEG Best Abstract Award (2022). Award for best abstract presentation in the Translational GI session at United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW) in Vienna, Austria.
  • Young-ICC Best IBD Paper Award (2022). Winner of the second prize of the Young Initiative on Crohn’s and Colitis (Young-ICC) organisation for the best IBD paper written by junior IBD scientists from the Netherlands.
  • Co-applicant Janssen Pharmaceuticals research grant (2022). The role of the NRF2/Keap1-pathway in inflammatory bowel diseases. Awarded €2,100,000.
  • Gastrostart grant (Dutch Society for Gastroenterology) (2022). ‘Ontrafeling van het antilichaamrepertoire van patiënten met primair scleroserende cholangitis’. Awarded €10,000.

2017-2021

  • Stichting de Cock-Hadders grant for PhD research (2021). Awarded €6,140.
  • Stichting de Cock-Hadders grant for PhD research (2020). Awarded €4,000.
  • Stichting de Cock-Hadders grant for PhD research (2019). Awarded €6,000.
  • Best Oral Presentation Award (2019). Award for best oral presentation held at the Paris Redox World Congress in Paris, France, from the International Society of Antioxidants, Nutrition and Health (ISANH).
  • Best Abstract Award DDW (2019). Award for conference abstract presented at the Digestive Disease Week in San Diego, CA, USA, ranking among the best 50 abstract submitted from a total of ~4,000 submissions.
  • Stichting de Cock-Hadders grant for PhD research (2018). Awarded €5,200.
  • Junior Scientific Masterclass (JSM) MD-PhD stipend (2017). MD/PhD fellowship at the University of Groningen. Awarded ~€82,000.
  • Compendium Award (2017). Award for achieving the record-breaking score on the Dutch Progress Test of Medicine (ranking first out of ~12,000 medical students).