Christoph Schneider Awarded ERC Consolidator Grant
Prof. Dr. Christoph Schneider, Professor of Physiology at the University of Zurich, has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant for his project TuftID. The project investigates how tuft cells recognize and respond to intestinal parasites, aiming to develop new tools for innate immunity research.
Tuft cells are specialized epithelial cells that respond to chemical stimuli and play a key role in defending against intestinal parasites such as helminths. Despite their importance, the precise mechanisms by which tuft cells detect and combat parasites remain poorly understood. Prof. Christoph Schneider’s project, TuftID, addresses this gap. The goal is to track tuft cell activation, identify agonists and receptors derived from parasites, and map the protein networks that control the effector activities of these cells.
The project is funded through the highly competitive ERC Consolidator Grant program, which received a record 3,121 applications this year, with only about 11% successful. The University of Zurich stood out with nine funded projects.
The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Zurich warmly congratulates Prof. Schneider on this outstanding achievement and acknowledges his contribution to cutting-edge research in immunology and epithelial cell biology.
Source: University of Zurich, ERC