{"id":79861,"date":"2026-06-23T12:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?post_type=awards&#038;p=79861"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:29:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:29:27","slug":"erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research","status":"publish","type":"awards","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research","title":{"rendered":"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Research to lead a transformative \u2018leap\u2019 forward in our understanding of genome regulation just got substantial support from the ERC to help scientists move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/ERC Advanced Grants: Nearly \u20ac840 million to support Europe\u2019s leading researchers\">European Research Council (ERC)<\/a> announced funding to EMBL Unit leader Eileen Furlong and her project, \u2018Looping Enhancers And Promoters provide Specificity&#8217; (LEAPS), as part of its latest Advanced Grants competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLEAPS is about understanding how our genome is regulated,\u201d Furlong said. \u201cGenes only code for ~3% of our genome.\u00a0The rest of the genome, which used to be thought of as just junk DNA, contains many control elements (enhancers) which switch genes on and off, regulating when and where genes are expressed. Changes to this regulation are a major driving force of both evolution and disease. Actually, from sequencing millions of humans, we now know that the majority of disease-associated genetic mutations are in this non-coding part of the genome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She added that the genome contains hundreds of thousands of these control elements, often located far away from the gene they regulate, so that the DNA must fold (or loop) to bring the enhancer and gene\u2019s promoter together. How they find their correct gene, and in many cases, skip over (or ignore) other genes, are the central questions that LEAPS will address.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LEAPS uses the power of large-scale genetics and genomics in a developmental model, the Drosophila embryo, to understand how this is regulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis financial support is crucial,\u201d Furlong noted. \u201cERC funds are so important in Europe to fund big, ambitious projects in discovery research. This support will allow us to continue to innovate in this important area. Enhancers were discovered approximately 40 years ago, and we still don\u2019t understand how they work together with other regulatory elements to regulate precise patterns of gene expression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ERC Advanced Grants allow senior researchers like Furlong to pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that lead to major scientific breakthroughs. These grants are part of the EU\u2019s Horizon Europe programme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unit Leader Eileen Furlong receives ERC Advanced Grant to further understand genome regulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":69701,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[149,1327,543,484,496,43],"award-type":[17601],"award-unit":[17625],"award-site":[17605],"class_list":["post-79861","awards","type-awards","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-award","tag-erc","tag-erc-grant","tag-furlong","tag-genome-biology","tag-heidelberg","award-type-grant","award-unit-genome-biology","award-site-heidelberg"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unit Leader Eileen Furlong received an ERC Advanced Grant for research that will further our understanding of genome regulation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unit Leader Eileen Furlong received an ERC Advanced Grant for research that will further our understanding of genome regulation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T10:29:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/\",\"name\":\"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T10:29:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-23T10:29:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"Unit Leader Eileen Furlong received an ERC Advanced Grant for research that will further our understanding of genome regulation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Eileen Furlong. Credit: Kinga Siring\/EMBL\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Awards & Honours\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News\",\"description\":\"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"EMBL News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"alternateName\":\"EMBL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":144,\"caption\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/embl\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research | EMBL","description":"Unit Leader Eileen Furlong received an ERC Advanced Grant for research that will further our understanding of genome regulation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research | EMBL","og_description":"Unit Leader Eileen Furlong received an ERC Advanced Grant for research that will further our understanding of genome regulation.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_modified_time":"2026-06-23T10:29:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/","name":"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-23T10:29:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-23T10:29:27+00:00","description":"Unit Leader Eileen Furlong received an ERC Advanced Grant for research that will further our understanding of genome regulation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240510_Eileen-Furlong-Leopoldina.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"Eileen Furlong. Credit: Kinga Siring\/EMBL"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/erc-advanced-grant-for-eileen-furlongs-genomic-research\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Awards & Honours","item":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ERC Advanced Grant for Eileen Furlong\u2019s genomic research"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]}]}},"acf":{"vf-news-ah-unit":[17625],"vf-news-ah-type":[17601],"vf-news-ah-site":[17605]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/awards\/79861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/awards"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/awards"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79861"},{"taxonomy":"award-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/award-type?post=79861"},{"taxonomy":"award-unit","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/award-unit?post=79861"},{"taxonomy":"award-site","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/award-site?post=79861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}