Professor in Utrecht since December 2001Budapestlaan 6
3584 CD Utrecht
science.bureau@uu.nl
T: +31 (0)30 253 3686
Telephone secretary: +31 (0)30 253 4628
E-mail secretary: l.vantetterode@uu.nl
"From my experience, an education in biochemistry is a wonderful basis for a research career in biomedical sciences, particularly in molecular cell biology."
I have always been fascinated by the question why eukaryotic cells synthesize such a variety of membrane lipids. How does a cell use these lipids for its physiological functions? As approaches to these questions we study (1) how and where the various lipids are synthesized and degraded, and how the respective enzymes are regulated, (2) by what proteins lipids are transported within and between cellular membranes, and (3) how lipids function in the sorting, transport and activity of membrane proteins. So far, our research has brought us to the discovery of lipid rafts as platforms of protein sorting and signaling, to a role of multidrug transporters in moving lipids across membrane bilayers, and to the crucial role of specific lipids in pigmentation.
Curriculum Vitae
Name: van Meer, Gerardus Franciscus Bernardus Petrus
Academic Degree: Ph.D., 1981 Utrecht University
Date of Birth: 1/8/1953
Place of Birth: Klundert, The Netherlands
Academic Record
1971-1977
Biology with Chemistry, Utrecht University; with honors
1977-1981
Ph.D. studies, Dept. of Biochemistry, Utrecht University
Thesis advisors: Dr. Jos Op den Kamp and Dr. Laurens van Deenen.
Thesis: Transbilayer distribution and mobility of phospholipid in mammalian plasma membranes
1981-1983
Postdoc at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany, with Dr. Kai Simons, Cell Biology Program (EMBO Fellowship)
- The difference in lipid composition between the two plasma membrane domains of epithelial cells
- Fusion of lipids into the plasma membrane of living cells
1983-1986
Staff Scientist in the EMBL Cell Biology Program
- The tight junction as a barrier to lipid diffusion
- Intracellular lipid sorting in polarized epithelial cells
1987-1997
Staff Scientist at the Dept. of Cell Biology, Medical School, Utrecht University
1988-1993
Senior Fellow of the Royal Academy (KNAW)
1993-1997
Associate professor (UHD), Dept. of Cell Biology, Utrecht University
1997-2001
Professor of Cell Biology and Histology, Dept. of Cell Biology and Histology, Academic Medical Center (AMC), University of Amsterdam
2001-2010
Professor of Membrane Enzymology, Bijvoet Center and Institute of Biomembranes, Department of Chemistry, Science Faculty, Utrecht University.
2011-..
Dean Faculty of Science, Utrecht University