Adithya Sridhar and Rens Zonneveld Lead ‘The Puppeteers’ – AI&I Collaboration Grant Project
What happens when brain-altering pathogens start pulling the biological strings of their hosts? That is exactly what researchers Dr. Adithya Sridhar and Dr. Rens Zonneveld are exploring in their newly awarded AI&I Collaboration Grant project, named “The Puppeteers”.
Studying The Puppeteers of an infected human brain
The initiative, funded by the Amsterdam UMC’s AI& Collaboration Grant 2025, aims to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations across departments within the Amsterdam UMC. Regarding The Puppeteers, this project brought together organoid expert Dr. Adithya Sridhar (from the pediatrics department) and medical parasitologist Dr. Rens Zonneveld (from the department of Medical Microbiology & Infection Prevention) to unlock the mysteries of mind-controlling pathogens.
The Puppeteers project focuses on understanding how brain-altering pathogens modulate host biology and consequently, host behaviour. To study the mechanisms of these pathogens, this project will use human neural or brain organoids. “As a preliminary investigation, we will study Toxoplasma gondii. In the future, we will build on our data to study rabies and Treponema pallidum” said Dr. Adithya Sridhar.
Within The Puppeteers project, OrganoVIR Labs will contribute our expertise on organoids for human infection biology.
About OrganoVIR Labs
OrganoVIR Labs is a pioneering research group based at the Amsterdam UMC, dedicated to elevating the study of infectious diseases through organoid technology. By developing and applying human organoid models in our research, we are providing a more accurate representation of human disease progression and viral pathogenesis.
Moreover, this approach aims to overcome the limitations of traditional animal models in virology research, offering a more accurate representation of human disease progression and viral pathogenesis. Currently, our lab has contributed to advancing the understanding of diseases, including CMV, HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and now the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
