- iCNS Strategic Board

The iCNS newsletter - July 2025
by iCNS 18 Jul '25

18 Jul '25

View this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/839a891b06f3/icns-newsletter-10980679?e=0b1f2e02c1) https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… July 2025 Dear iCNS participants, Welcome to our second newsletter, highlighting some recent iCNS-related developments and celebrating the progress of our project. First off, we are excited to welcome Sabina van der Zanden as our new iCNS project coordinator and the new head of iCNS Project Management. She will be your main contact person from now on, and her earlier experience with the ICI gravitation program in Leiden is already proving to be invaluable. We are furthermore very pleased to welcome several new hires that started recently. It is great to see some collaborations starting to take shape across work packages, and, with more hires on the way, it is an inspiring start of the program. Also, we recently had our first meeting with the iCNS Strategic Board, where the Executive Board gathered with senior representatives, i.e. the deans or research directors, from each host institute/faculty of the consortium, who serve as ‘critical friends’ of iCNS and can help provide strategic advice. Following an introductory round and a short presentation by Paul and Inge on the main framework and ambitions of iCNS, we had a lively and constructive discussion with them on our aims, strategy, on how to further connect, promote more collaboration and ultimately embed iCNS for the future. We are furthermore preparing for our yearly iCNS consortium meeting on December 16th in Oegstgeest, and for the young researchers meeting in Amsterdam on October 24th. As we continue on this journey together, we wish you all a lovely and relaxing break for now, and we look forward to the exciting developments ahead. Have a great summer! Best regards, Inge Huitinga, Paul Lucassen & Mario van der Stelt https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… Mark Your Calendars iCNS Consortium Meeting - December 16th, Oegstgeest Young Researchers Meeting - October 24th, Amsterdam (PhD’s and Postdocs only) New Additions to Our Team! From left to right, top to bottom: Tijn Vleeshouwer - PhD (UL) Jessica Hoang - PhD (UL) Eric Hoekstra - Data Manager (UMCG) Maxime Boven - Project en Communicatiemedewerker (NIN) Payam Safavi - Tissue Dissemination Officer & Research technician (NIN) Sabina van der Zanden - Senior Project Manager (UvA) ** Sabina van der Zanden: Reflections on Her First Days ------------------------------------------------------------ As of July 1st, 2025, I’ve joined iCNS as the new Senior Project Manager, and I’m very excited to introduce myself to all of you! I have a background in molecular cell biology and completed my PhD in the group of Jacques Neefjes in 2021. Since then, I worked as a postdoc and later as a senior scientist at LUMC, focusing on the development of anti-cancer drugs, particularly anthracyclines. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to both fundamental and clinical research. During the past 2.5 years, I discovered a new passion—project management—while working for the NWO Gravitation program Institute for Chemical Immunology (ICI). I love working together with people from diverse backgrounds and creating structure in complex, multidisciplinary projects. At the same time, I appreciate being able to work independently and take ownership of the planning and organization. I also truly enjoy the interpersonal side—facilitating communication, supporting researchers, and helping everyone stay aligned. What makes project management within a scientific consortium especially rewarding for me is the chance to stay close to the science. With my academic background, I find the content genuinely interesting and feel motivated by the idea that my work contributes—indirectly but meaningfully—to advancing scientific knowledge and improving treatments for various diseases. At iCNS, I’ll be supporting our multidisciplinary research efforts at the exciting interface of chemistry and neuroscience. Over the past few weeks, I’ve received a very warm welcome from the UvA project management team and iCNS daily board. It’s been a great start, and I’m really looking forward to working with all of you to help achieve the goals of this inspiring consortium. One quick note: my fresh start at iCNS will be briefly paused, as I’ll be going on maternity leave at the end of September. During that time, Ineke Brouwer—who has already been serving as interim project manager—will take over. I look forward to returning in January 2026 and continuing our work together. Warm regards, Sabina van der Zanden Missed Our First Newsletter? Some of you may have missed our first newsletter. If you’d like to catch up or re-read, you can find it here (https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i…) . ** Our Summer Greetings ------------------------------------------------------------ We wish you a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you after the holidays! https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… mailto:contact@i-cns.nl https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences (https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/profile?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&id=10…) or unsubscribe (https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i…) https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i…

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iCNS Consortium Meeting
by Ineke Brouwer 27 Jun '25

27 Jun '25

Dear members of the iCNS, With this email, I would like to inform you that the iCNS Consortium Meeting will take place on Tuesday December 16, 2025 in Kasteel Oud Poelgeest<https://www.kasteeloudpoelgeest.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=607631731&…> (in Oegstgeest, close to Leiden). It will be a full-day program. More details will follow, but, for now, please be sure to save the date! Kind regards, Ineke Brouwer, PhD (she/her) Project Manager University of Amsterdam Available on Mon | Tue | Thu | Fri +31614759507 PO Box 94216 | 1090 GE Amsterdam | Room C2.122a Sciencepark 904 | 1098 XH Amsterdam | The Netherlands www.uva.nl<http://www.uva.nl/> I choose to work flexibly and may send emails outside normal office hours. No need to respond to my emails outside yours.

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SAVE-THE-DATE: iCNS Consortium Meeting, 16-12-2025
by Ineke Brouwer 27 Jun '25

27 Jun '25

Dear members of the iCNS Strategic Board, With this email, I would like to inform you that the iCNS Consortium Meeting will take place on Tuesday December 16, 2025 in Kasteel Oud Poelgeest<https://www.kasteeloudpoelgeest.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=607631731&…> (in Oegstgeest, close to Leiden). As a member of the iCNS Strategic Board, you are most welcome to attend. If case travelling to Leiden is not feasible, we will offer the opportunity to participate online. It will be a full-day program. More details will follow, but, for now, please be sure to save the date! Kind regards, Ineke Brouwer, PhD (she/her) Project Manager University of Amsterdam Available on Mon | Tue | Thu | Fri +31614759507 PO Box 94216 | 1090 GE Amsterdam | Room C2.122a Sciencepark 904 | 1098 XH Amsterdam | The Netherlands www.uva.nl<http://www.uva.nl/> I choose to work flexibly and may send emails outside normal office hours. No need to respond to my emails outside yours.

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iCNS Strategic Board meeting - Agenda, EB Minutes Extract & Proposal Abstract (June 18)
by Naomi van der Most 16 Jun '25

16 Jun '25

Dear iCNS Strategic Board members and representatives, Ahead of our upcoming Strategic Board meeting on Wednesday, June 18th, from 17:00 to 18:00, please find attached the following documents for your preparation: * An extract of the Executive Board (EB) meeting minutes * The abstract of the iCNS proposal submitted to NWO The agenda for the meeting is outlined below: 17:00 – 17:20 | Introduction round 17:20 – 17:40 | Presentation of iCNS work plan 17:40 – 18:00 | Discussion Please use the Zoom link below to join the meeting: Join Zoom Meeting https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/88457135747 Meeting ID: 884 5713 5747 We look forward to meeting you soon and hearing your insights. If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Best wishes, Naomi van der Most (Junior Project Manager, UvA), on behalf of; Inge Huitinga (UvA/NIN) Paul Lucassen (UvA) Mario van der Stelt (LU) Bart Eggen (UMCG) Lot de Witte (RUMC) Maarten Kole (NIN) Inge Holtman (UMCG) [cid:9da91aae-1e40-4e6f-b582-4d4070da0e91]

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iCNS Strategic Board Meeting
by Naomi van der Most 16 Jun '25

16 Jun '25

Naomi van der Most is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: iCNS Strategic Board Meeting Time: Jun 18, 2025 05:00 PM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna Join Zoom Meeting https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/88457135747 Meeting ID: 884 5713 5747 --- Join by SIP • 88457135747(a)zoomcrc.com --- Join by H.323 • 144.195.19.161 (US West) • 206.247.11.121 (US East) • 159.124.15.191 (Amsterdam Netherlands) • 159.124.47.249 (Germany) Meeting ID: 884 5713 5747

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iCNS Newsletter
by contact＠i-cns.nl 16 May '25

16 May '25

View this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/c73346859f5b/icns-newsletter?e=0b1f2e02c1) https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… May 2025 Dear iCNS participants, A very warm welcome to all of you! We are very excited to bring you our very first newsletter with an overview of the latest iCNS-related developments. During most of 2024, together with Angelica, Naomi and the Executive Board, we worked hard to put together our Consortium Agreement and to finalize the paperwork before officially launching iCNS. We celebrated its start with an incredible Kick-Off meeting at theatre De Rode Hoed in Amsterdam’s city centre in early December. It was a full house, so there were plenty of chances to meet and connect with each other. We got inspired by the plans shared by our work package leaders, and talks by external guest speakers Shane Liddelow, Uwe Grether, Nikos Daslakis and Casper Hoogenraad. The interview with a depressed patient by psychiatrist Dr. Eric Ruhe was an another impressive highlight. A photo impression of this inspirational day can be found below. Since then, several PhD projects have been prepared, integrating chemistry with neuroscience. The hiring process for these PhD candidates will commence in the coming months at our partner institutes. We are delighted to announce that the first PhD students and Postdoc have already started in Leiden and Groningen. We’re excited to have you at iCNS and look forward to your future contributions! Moreover, we are saddened to share that Angelica has left iCNS as head of Team Management Support. She has done an outstanding job in helping launch the consortium, playing a crucial role in completing the Consortium Agreement on time and organizing the Kick-Off meeting. Angelica, we could not have done it without you! We had a farewell gathering at Science Park, where she received some gifts on our behalf. We thank you very much for all you did for iCNS and wish you all the very best with your new position at TNO! We are also pleased to introduce Sabina van der Zanden as the new head of iCNS Project Management. Sabina is currently part of the ICI gravitation program in Leiden and will begin her role within iCNS on July 1^st. Inge Huitinga, Paul Lucassen & Mario van der Stelt Award of Chan Zuckerberg Grant We’re thrilled that the labs of Inge Huitinga and Inge Holtman were awarded €300,000 from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to revolutionize neuropathological research in the Netherlands Brain Bank. This funding will enable the use of cutting-edge AI, including Large Language Models, to transform the analysis of medical records and imaging data. https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… Exciting New Additions to Our Team! Meet the brilliant minds who've recently joined us at LU and UMCG. Explore their stories below and keep an eye out for further additions via LinkedIn. New hires at UMCG (https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i…) New hires at LU (https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i…) ** A word from the first iCNS PhD student ------------------------------------------------------------ Hi everyone! I'm Lars van Abswoude and I recently started my PhD in the Molecular Physiology group under supervision of Mario van der Stelt. The main goal of my PhD is to develop celltype-specific PROTACs for various targets within the CNS. As the first PhD candidate at iCNS, I got the wonderful opportunity to attend the Kick-off meeting in Amsterdam last November. It was amazing to see how many different disciplines came together to work on the noble goal of unraveling the molecular mechanisms behind CNS related diseases. In the spirit of teamwork, we're now collaborating with Monique Mulder from Leiden University Medical Center. She's an expert on the ubiquitin-proteasome system and her in depth knowledge of this system will aid us in the biological aspects of developing a cell type specific PROTAC platform. I'm truly honored to be part of this multidisciplinary and cooperative consortium. The real strength of iCNS lies in our teamwork. By combining our expertise, we will efficiently tackle complex CNS challenges together. I'm looking forward to contributing to and witnessing iCNS's journey as it evolves. Lars van Abswoude ** Angelica’s Goodbye Party at the UvA ------------------------------------------------------------ If you have any items to share for future newsletters, don’t hesitate to send them my way! Presentations, interviews, meetings, published papers, or anything else within the iCNS framework would be welcome. Best wishes, Naomi van der Most https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… mailto:contact@i-cns.nl https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i… Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences (https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/profile?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&id=10…) or unsubscribe (https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i…) https://i-cns.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9153e18ffe39dd83583a27335&i…

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2025

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iCNS Strategic Board