Sandra Schick awarded an ERC Starting Grant

Dr Sandra Schick, a Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz, Germany, has been awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The prestigious grant provides her group with €2 million over the next five years to elucidate the regulatory functions of BAF complexes in human brain development and neurodevelopmental diseases.

Sandra’s group studies BAF complexes (short for BRG1-/BRM-associated factor complexes), which are chromatin-remodelling enzymes that control the packaging of DNA. Within our cells, DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones, like string wound around a series of tightly packed spools. This keeps it compact and organised, so that it can fit into the nucleus. In addition, this is important for controlling gene expression: when the DNA is densely packed, it is less accessible to proteins such as transcription factors and polymerases. Thus, genes that are tightly packaged are more likely to be inactive and silent, while those that are loosely packed are more active. 

BAF complexes help activate or silence genes by ejecting or sliding histones (the ‘spools’) along the DNA (the ‘string’) so that it becomes either more or less tightly packed. This is especially important during development when hundreds of genes must be activated or silenced at exactly the right time and place. However, we still do not fully understand how they do this or how this is regulated, as BAF complexes have multiple subunits that can theoretically be combined in hundreds of different configurations, with different functions in different cell types. 

The Starting Grant enables Sandra’s group to systematically investigate the role of individual BAF subunits in human brain development and unravel the molecular changes that lead to neurodevelopmental disorders when the genes encoding these subunits are mutated.

Sandra says, “In recent years, we established many tools to holistically study BAF complexes and human brain development in an organoid model system, which closely reflects physiological conditions. We will now use these methods to gain better insights into the regulatory functions of BAF complexes in the context of human brain development and disease.”

Starting Grants are awarded to talented early-career scientists in EU member states based on their scientific excellence. The grants are awarded across a wide range of fields, from life sciences and physics to social sciences and humanities. This year, 494 researchers were selected to receive an ERC Starting Grant out of 3,474 applications across Europe.

IMB warmly congratulates Sandra on her achievement.

_{Further details}

_{Further information can be found at https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/erc-2024-starting-grants-results}

_{Sandra Schick is a Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz. Further information about research in the Schick lab can be found at www.imb.de/schick.}

_{About the Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH} 

_{The Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB) is a centre of excellence in the life sciences that was established in 2011 on the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Research at IMB focuses on the cutting-edge fields of epigenetics, genome stability, ageing and RNA biology. The institute is a prime example of successful collaboration between a private foundation and government: The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation has committed 154 million euros to be disbursed from 2009 until 2027 to cover the operating costs of research at IMB. The State of Rhineland-Palatinate has provided approximately 50 million euros for the construction of a state-of-the-art building and is giving a further 52 million in core funding from 2020 until 2027. For more information about IMB, please visit: www.imb.de.}

_{Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation}

_{The Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that is committed to the promotion of the medical, biological, chemical, and pharmaceutical sciences. It was established in 1977 by Hubertus Liebrecht (1931–1991), a member of the shareholder family of the Boehringer Ingelheim company. Through its funding programmes Plus 3, Exploration Grants and Rise up!, the Foundation supports excellent scientists during critical stages of their careers. It also endows the international Heinrich Wieland Prize, as well as awards for up-and-coming scientists in Germany. In addition, the Foundation funds institutional projects in Germany, such as the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. www.boehringer-ingelheim-stiftung.de/en}.

_{Press contact for further information}

_{Dr Ralf Dahm, Director of Scientific Management}

_{Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB), Ackermannweg 4, 55128 Mainz, Germany} 

_{Phone: +49 (0) 6131 39 21455, Email: press(at)imb.de}