UTFacultiesTNWResearchDept MMBNTJeroen Cornelissen appointed Professor of Biomolecular Nanotechnology

Jeroen Cornelissen appointed Professor of Biomolecular Nanotechnology

Dr J.J.L.M. Cornelissen (1972) has been appointed Professor of Biomolecular Nanotechnology at the University of Twente’s faculty of Applied Sciences (TNW) as of 1 February 2009. The new chair focuses on the analysis, recognition, manipulation and repair of biological materials, such as DNA, proteins and cells.

Jeroen Cornelissen has been appointed professor of Biomolecular Nanotechnology at the faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Twente, the Netherlands, as of 1 February 2009. The chair in question is a Federation of Technical Universities (3TU) chair that falls under the MESA+ Research Institute. 3TU is a cooperative arrangement between TU Delft, Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Twente.

Nanotechnology occurs frequently in nature so that researchers have a variety of biomolecular components and techniques at their disposal to use for new applications. In his new capacity, Cornelissen wants to find a connection between existing knowledge of molecular synthesis and supramolecular chemistry on the one hand, and the function of biomolecules inside and outside the cell on the other. Using this approach, the self-organization of proteins, for example, can be steered towards forming functional nanostructures. At the same time, insight will be obtained in the complex processes underlying this spontaneous self-organization. Such insight is valuable in developing new medicines because, amongst other things, it provides a better understanding of the mechanism involved when medicines act on cells.

CV

Jeroen Cornelissen studied chemistry at the Radboud University Nijmegen (RU). In 2001 he was awarded a doctorate cum laude for his research into chiral macromolecular systems. After a stay of more than a year at the IBM Almaden Research Center in the United States, he was affiliated with the RU Institute for Molecules and Materials where he worked as a post-doctoral researcher, assistant professor and associate professor from 2002. His research has been rewarded by various grants including a Veni grant, a Vidi grant, the Beijerinck Premium for Virology and the prestigious European Young Investigators Award.

Press contact: Rianne Wanders, +31 (0)53-4892721