The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded new John Innes Centre (JIC) Project Leader Professor Daniel Zilberman a Consolidator Grant to carry out his chosen research at the John Innes Centre.
The ERC Consolidator Grants support early/mid-career scientists to establish their scientific independence by providing the necessary resources to form a team of scientists and students within a host institute.
The ERC grants are one of the top funding schemes available to researchers in Europe, and recipients must have an exceptional track record for their career stage. The ERC only considers world-class researchers who submit a research proposal of the highest standard.
Prof Zilberman joins the John Innes Centre from the University of California, Berkeley. His team will study how information that is not encoded in the primary sequence of the DNA molecule, known as epigenetic information, is passed across generations through a chemical modification of DNA called methylation. Faithful inheritance of DNA methylation is required for proper development of plants and animals, and disruption of methylation patterns causes human disease and reduced crop yields. Understanding of this process is therefore crucial for improving human health and nutrition.
Prof Zilbermann said:
“I am delighted to receive a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council. This award will enable my research team to pursue blue skies but potentially transformative research aimed to understand how epigenetic information is accurately transmitted across plant generations.”
