ERC Starting Grant for research on organ trafficking and healthy generations

Criminologist Frederike Ambagtsheer will use the grant for research into the facilitation, concealment, and laundering of illegal kidney transplants. “There is a persistent myth that organ trafficking is an underground crime far removed from the medical sector and other legal service providers. However, research shows that hospitals, clinics, hotels, banks, law firms, and notary offices, and other legal organizations are closely involved in facilitating organ trafficking,” she explains. Through new research, Ambagtsheer and her team aim to understand how, where, and why medical and legal service providers, knowingly or unknowingly, contribute to facilitating, concealing, laundering, and continuing illegal kidney transplants. The team will also investigate the implications of this involvement for policy and regulation. The team will conduct online research, do qualitative fieldwork in ‘hotspots,’ and will analyze criminal cases in various countries, including Costa Rica, Turkey, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Ambagtsheer is affiliated with the Erasmus MC Transplant Institute and will carry out this research in collaboration with the Law, Society, and Crime department of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Prospective parents with obesity

Pediatrician-epidemiologist Romy Gaillard will use the ERC Starting Grant for research into the embryonic origins of cardiovascular diseases. She focuses specifically on improving preventive care for prospective parents with obesity. “Obesity increases the risk of complications during pregnancy, and children of parents with obesity have a significantly higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases throughout their lives. This creates a vicious cycle, with cardiovascular diseases being passed down from generation to generation,” Gaillard explains.

Gaillard will first map the so-called ‘obesogenic’ environment in which the unborn child and placenta develop. This environment is shaped by the health, lifestyle, and metabolism of prospective parents during the period around conception and early pregnancy. In a European collaboration, Gaillard will develop AI prediction models to predict from the start of life which children of parents with obesity are at increased risk of complications. Gaillard will translate the insights from her project into a new European interactive platform for healthcare providers to assess risk based on the profile of prospective parents in the earliest phase of life. “This allows them to apply targeted prevention strategies, wherever and whenever necessary.”

ERC Starting Grant

ERC Starting Grants are awarded annually to promising scientists at the beginning of their careers. The €1.5 million grant enables them to start their own projects, form teams, and pursue their best ideas. This year, the European Research Council is investing €780 million in 494 researchers.