NRS Young Investigator Travel Grant Reports

Vivienne Kahlmann-WASOG 2024, Agra, India

"Beyond pulmonary sarcoidosis, the conference sessions on extrapulmonary manifestations, particularly cardiac sarcoidosis, introduced novel concepts that are highly relevant to my research."

Ayla Kwant-International Conference on Bio-Joining, Porto, Portugal

"Many talks have inspired me in terms of new experimental setups or chemical approaches, to further improve the adhesive that we are developing."

Charlotte Born-ESPEN, Milan, Italy

"Several conference sessions covered nutrition and respiratory health, including muscle wasting and sarcopenia, which are critical concerns for patients with CRD. These discussions deepened my understanding of how dietary interventions can mitigate disease progression"

Annette van der Vis-ICLAF, Athens, Greece

"Attending the ICLAF has significantly enhanced my understanding of the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. The sessions of the congress were highly informative."

Yanzhe Liu-MBE 2024, Lyon, FR

"Participating in the MBE Young Researcher's Program enriched my networking skills, offering opportunities to engage with leading experts in the field. Discussions in this session helped me refine my research direction, particularly in the context of ECM's role in fibrosis. Overall, this conference provided valuable knowledge and innovative approaches that will benefit my future work."

Vivian Gerretsen-WCLC 2024, San Diego, USA

"The NRS Travel Grant gave me the opportunity to visit the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) 2024 in San Diego, USA. It was the first time I attended an international conference like the WCLC, which was an inspiring experience."

Simone Olsthoorn-ILC5, Cambridge, UK

"My poster, titled "Multi-omics Dissection of Developmental Trajectories and Plasticity in Human Innate Lymphoid Cells," was well-received, and the feedback I received during discussions was very helpful and will enhance my ongoing experiments."

Nynke Wijbenga-ISHLT Annual Meeting, Prague

"Presenting my research in an oral session on managing infectious threats after lung transplantation was an invaluable experience. Our work received a lot of attention during this well-attended session, and I engaged in insightful discussions about using electronic nose technology to detect complications after lung transplantation and our future research steps with experts in the field."

Irene Gosselink-Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, USA

"I realized there is a tight relationship between inhalation toxicology and climate change. This sparked my inspiration for future research in this field."

Fenneke Zwierenga-CNAPS-Craz, Austria

"Within my research field, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a powerful biomarker for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection and monitoring and can be a non-invasive approach of treating cancer based on a real-time assessment of the tumor genomic landscape."

Tijmen van Weert-ENETS Conference 2024, Vienna, Austria

"(N)etworking with fellow lung neuroendocrine researchers, some of whom I had previously only corresponded with via email, was the highlight of my experience."

Michele Davigo-Society of Toxicology (SOT) 2024 annual meeting

"A very precious networking experience at SOT 2024 was the student/postdoc mixer, where me and my colleague from UM had the opportunity to informally meet and mingle with fellow graduate students/postdocs in the field of toxicology, and to endure scientific talks with the aim of future collaborations."

Debbie Gach-ESPEN Congress

"At the ESPEN congress, I had the opportunity to present and discuss data of two projects with other experts in the field of nutrition, body composition, and metabolism, which gave me the opportunity to expand my scientific network in the field of nutrition and metabolism beyond the respiratory field."

Benthe Muntinghe-ESMO congress 2023

"My poster was about the use of a virus as a potential biomarker in patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with mono-immunotherapy. Besides the poster presentation of one hour, I also had the opportunity to give a pitch of one minute for a Dutch website."

Montse Janssen Bonás-WASOG Conference 2023

"Visiting the WASOG2023 conference in the beautiful city of Stockholm and participating the amazing scientific sessions and the very well organized social events in the evening has been a special milestone in my early career as a researcher. It has boosted my drive to be the enthusiastic and thorough researcher I aspire to be."

Karlijn Groen-WASOG Conference 2023

"This year's topic was Big Data and how this may help us on the way to precision medicine. Of particular interest to me were the presentations on the potential of AI-enabled HRCT analysis in the diagnosis and progression of pulmonary fibrosis. Interestingly, Logan Harper and others compellingly argued the importance of taking ancestry, ethnicity and self-declared race into account, as these factors have social implications and may affect clinical phenotypes. "

Dan Li-Niche-epithelial Stem Cell Interactions in Lung Health and Disease Conference

"Through networking with various speakers and researchers at the conference, I expanded my professional connections and even identified potential post-doctoral opportunities."

Maaike de Vries-Respiratory Genomics Conference

"The small nature of the conference facilitated meaningful discussions and allowed me to expand my network, which may lead to new future collaborations. Therefore, I'm very grateful to the NRS for their support to participate in this very interesting and relevant conference."

Jorrit van Poelgeest-World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID) conference

"The content of my presentation did impress some of the attendees as well. They were surprised by the simple usage and broad application possibilities of our device and would like to stay informed of our progress."

Lianne Trap-Epigenomics of Common Diseases Conference 2023

I had the privilege of attending the Epigenomics of Common Diseases Conference, where I was provided with the opportunity to present my project on a poster. Overall, the conference surpassed expectations in facilitating connections. Showcasing my research method garnered invaluable insights from experts in my research field. Engaging with researchers from diverse fields expanded my professional network and cultivated potential collaborations that will amplify the impact of my research.

Lieke Noij-ESPID 2023

From May 8th to May 12th, 2023, I was fortunate enough to attend the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) Conference.

Didier Lustermans-AAPM Annual Meeting

From a period of July 23 until July 27, I attended the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) 65th Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas.

Sophie Ernst-AACR Annual Meeting 2023

The AACR 2023 annual meeting held place in Orlando, Florida, from the 14th to the 19th of April.

Merian Kuipers-ESTRO Vienna 2023

The NRS travel Grant gave me the opportunity to visit the ESTRO 2023 in Vienna, Austria, a radiation oncology conference.