Camila Consiglio's and Jacob Vogel's ambitious projects, "fertiliMMUNE" and "TauTime", tackle major health challenges through innovative, data-driven approaches in fertility research and Alzheimer’s disease, respectively.
Understanding Fertility Through the Lens of Immunology
Camila Consiglio: fertiliMMUNE – Understanding the Role of the Immune System in Fertility
Infertility affects 1 in 6 adults globally, yet many current treatments fail to address its underlying biological causes. Camila Consiglio’s project, fertiliMMUNE, aims to uncover the immune mechanisms that regulate fertility, focusing on how the immune and reproductive systems communicate during the reproductive cycle.
By exploring how immune responses are finely tuned, especially under the influence of sex hormones, Camila seeks to identify novel therapeutic targets that could lead to more effective, precise, and equitable fertility treatments.
“Receiving the ERC Starting Grant is both a personal and professional milestone,” says Consiglio. “It allows me to build a multidisciplinary team, create the necessary infrastructure, and pursue ambitious research that could transform fertility care and advance equity in medicine.”
Simulating Alzheimer’s Disease at the Individual Level
Jacob Vogel: TauTime – Computational Simulations of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is complex, progressive, and deeply personal in how it manifests in each patient. In his ERC project TauTime, Jacob Vogel will develop computational models that simulate Alzheimer’s progression in the brain, using real-world patient data.
By combining known and hypothetical biological mechanisms, his team will create “digital twins” of individual patients—allowing for in silico experimentation and predictions that are not possible in real humans. This innovative approach will improve our understanding of disease mechanisms and has the potential to inform clinical trials and guide personalized care.
“This ERC grant gives us access to the people and computational resources we need to build a model that’s not just a proof of concept, but truly meaningful and useful to society,” says Vogel.
Driving Innovation with ERC Support
During 2025, the ERC awarded 478 Starting Grants worth a total of €761 million, empowering Europe’s most promising researchers to pursue cutting-edge science. For both Camila Consiglio and Jacob Vogel, this recognition and support mark a major step forward in their careers—and a leap toward transformative impact in reproductive health and neurodegenerative disease.
Congratulations again to our DDLS Fellows on this outstanding achievement!