NWO-XL grant for Gijs Wuite and David Dulin

BaSyC PI’s Gijs Wuite and David Dulin from VU Amsterdam have been awarded a NWO-XL grant for their research proposal with the title ‘Know your enemy: deciphering coronavirus biochemical cycles from RNA synthesis to assembly.’

This NWO Domain Science (ENW) grant, worth up to 3 million euros per project, gives the scientists the opportunity to strengthen or expand their lines of research.

David Dulin and his colleagues, including VU biophysicist Gijs Wuite, will investigate the key determinants in coronavirus multiplication to reveal potential new targets for antiviral drug development.

(photos: VU Amsterdam)

In search of the coronavirus Achilles’ heel
Though COVID19-vaccines are available, we need to understand how the virus replicates within the cell in order to develop new antiviral drugs. New drugs will protect people against lengthy hospitalizations, long-COVID, and future new variants that make vaccinated people ill. VU biophysicists David Dulin and Gijs Wuite will investigate the coronavirus Achilles’ heel, namely how coronaviruses multiply their genetic material and how genetic material is packed into new viral particles. They bring together an interdisciplinary team of virologists, experimental- and theoretical physicists from Utrecht, Groningen and Delft to uncover the very early stages of coronavirus infection.

More information on the VU Website
More information on the website of NWO