Meet Sadie Vermeiren, a bio-engineering graduate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), who has been awarded the 2nd Demoucelle Parkinson Charity Master’s Thesis Prize for her research on the protein DNAJC13 and its role in Parkinson’s disease. Conducted at the VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology, her work uncovers how disruptions in DNAJC13’s lipid-binding mechanisms may contribute to neurodegeneration.

Meet Gen Li, researcher at the VIB–KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research and recipient of the second FWO–Demoucelle Parkinson Charity PhD Fellowship. His work focuses on understanding how mutations in the VPS13C gene contribute to early-onset Parkinson’s disease and related Lewy body disorders. By studying how these mutations disrupt communication between cellular organelles, Gen aims to uncover new therapeutic targets to protect brain cells and slow disease progression.