Alum Thomas Winkler Received Prestigious ERC Starting Grant

Alumnus Thomas Winkler (BIOE Ph.D. 2017) has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The €1.5 million funding will further Winkler’s research on modular organ-on-chip technology to better understand neuropsychiatric disorders. Specifically, he hopes to better understand the role of cellular interactions between blood vessels and the nervous system in schizophrenia.

The prestigious Starting Grant supports top young researchers across Europe. The grants are part of the EU’s Horizon Europe program and are invested in scientific projects across all research disciplines. They are designed to help early-stage researchers start their own projects, build teams and pursue their best ideas.

Winkler joined the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany in 2021. He leads his own junior research group, the μ4Life – Microsystems for Life Sciences. Winkler’s group is part of the university’s Institute for Microtechnology and Center of Pharmaceutical Engineering.

More information can be found on UMD ISR News. (11 - September / 2023)