Prof. Vinod Subramaniam has been appointed the new Scientific Director of the MIRA Research Institute at the University of Twente. His appointment by the Executive Board comes into effect from 1 May 2012. Prof. Subramaniam is currently Professor at the University of Twente’s Nanobiophysics Group, a position he will combine with his new post as Scientific Director of MIRA.
The Executive Board has decided that, for a five-year period starting on 1 May 2012, Professor Subramaniam will take up the post of Scientific Director of MIRA, the Research Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine. He will succeed Prof. Clemens van Blitterswijk, who has held the position since 2009. Prof. Van Blitterswijk is stepping down as MIRA’s Scientific Director but will continue as Professor of the Department of Tissue Regeneration.
Prof. Subramaniam
Vinod Subramaniam is a leading scientist specializing in protein biophysics and functional nanoscale imaging. He uses molecular biophysics and imaging technology to investigate protein structures and interactions. One of his primary research interests involves the aggregation of a brain protein, alpha-synuclein, which is thought to play a key role in the onset of Parkinson’s disease.
Prof. Subramaniam studied electrical engineering at Cornell University and in 1996 obtained his doctorate in applied physics at University of Michigan in the United States. He went on to work at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. In 2004 he became Professor at the Department of Biophysical Engineering at the University of Twente and later at the Department of Nanobiophysics. Vinod Subramaniam is also an extraordinary professor in Nanoscale Imaging at Radboud University in Nijmegen and a senior fellow and guest lecturer at the Zukunftskolleg of the University of Konstanz in Germany.
Both Anne Flierman, President of the University of Twente’s Executive Board, and the entire appointment committee are convinced of Prof. Subramaniam’s ability to give effective leadership to the MIRA Institute. “He possesses the personality, the authority and the skills to operate successfully within the Institute, the University of Twente and the relevant field of research,” says Anne Flierman. “We are therefore delighted with his appointment.”
Note to the press
For further details, please contact Bertyl Lankhaar (+31 (0)53 489 2210), spokesperson for the Executive Board of the University of Twente, or Joost Bruysters, Science Information Officer (+31 (0)53 489 2773 /+31 (0)6 1048 8228).
