Abnormalities in metabolism cause disease in man. Hans Aerts aims to translate the outcome of fundamental biochemical investigations on glycosphingolipids and their metabolizing enzymes to improved diagnosis and rational therapies for inherited lysosomal disorders, neuro-degenerative disease and metabolic syndrome.

More information about Hans Aerts

Curriculum Vitae

Personal information

Nationality:   Dutch
Date of birth:   30 October 1956

Education

1988   PhD, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2 June 1988 (cum laude)
Thesis title: “Biochemical studies on glucocerebrosidase in relation to Gaucher disease”
Advisors: Prof. J.M. Tager (University of Amsterdam), Prof. J.A. Barranger (University of South California, USA)
1982   MSc in Biology, Faculty of Biology, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands (with honours)

Current and previous research positions

2015 – now     Full Professor in Medical Biochemistry, Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, The Netherlands
2000 – 2014   Full Professor in Biochemistry, Chair Department, Academic Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2013 – 2014   Professor in Chemical Biology (part time), Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, The Netherlands
1994 – 2000   Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1989 – 1994   Fellow of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1986 – 1989   Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Prof. J.M. Tager)

Grants, awards, recognitions since 2010

2016   NWO Building Blocks of Life Grant with H.S. Overkleeft and J.J.C. Neefjes (k€ 800)
2016   ‘Clé du Lysosome’ Award of Vaincre les Maladies Lysosomales
2016   Research Grant Sanofi-Genzyme with H.S. Overkleeft (k€ 500)
2014   NWO-CW TOPPUNT grant with H.S. Overkleeft and H. Ovaa (k€ 2,000)
2013   First Gaucher Disease Life Time Achievement Award of the Gaucher Leadership Forum
2012   Honorary Founder President, European Working Group on Gaucher Disease
2011   NWO-CW ChemThem Chemical Biology Grant with H.S. Overkleeft (k€ 500)
2011   EU ERC-AdG Co-applicant with H.S. Overkleeft as Principal Investigator (k€ 3,000)

Contribution to teaching and supervision

• Course MSc Life Sciences & Technology at Leiden: In-vivo Biomolecular Interactions Underlying Diseases
• Course BSc Biomedical Sciences (UvA, Amsterdam): Medical Biochemistry (2010-15)
• Course MSc Biomedical Sciences & Chemistry (UvA, Amsterdam): Medical Biochemistry (2010-15)
• Lectures in Biochemistry (Curriculum Medicine, Faculty Medicine, UvA, Amsterdam, 2010-15)
• Capita Selecta (Faculty of Science, VU, Amsterdam, 2010-16)

Supervision of 50 PhD students and 12 postdoctoral fellows since 1994. Current employment of recent PhD students and postdocs: P. Haberkant, EMBL, Heidelberg; C. Argmann, Mount Sinai, New York; M. Tol, University of California, Los Angeles; A. Marques, University of Kiel; D. Herrera Moro, INSERM Paris; J. Jiang, Shenzen University; P. Gaspar, University of Porto; M. Biegstraaten, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam. V. Sorrentino, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne.

Other responsibilities since 2010

• Member of review panel for the Agence nationale de la recherché (ANR, France)
• External member to PhD committees in UK, Portugal and Denmark
• Reviewer for Science, Nature, Nature Medicine, J. Biol. Chemistry and various other biochemistry, biomedical and chemical biology journals
• Chair of Dep. Medical Biochemistry (2000-2014), Academic Medical Center (AMC), Amsterdam
• Chair of multidisciplinary “LSD Clinic & Research Unit”, AMC, UvA, Amsterdam
• Chair of AMC Priority research theme “Metabolism” & MDL (2012-2013)
• Board member of AMC Research Council (2006-2014)
• Founder of European Working Group on Gaucher Disease and AMC Research Centre Sphinx.
• Honorary president and permanent board member EWGGD (since 2011)
• Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Macrozyme and Amdix. Founder and Director of Clinical Proteomics Facility (AMC, MIBITON)

Publication record including five recent representative publications

Ca. 400 papers and book chapters with >12,000 citations, H-index 60 (Web of Science); 66 (ResearchGate); average citation WoS in 2010-2015: 1046.

Full publication record: ResearcherID

• Jiang J., Kuo C.L., Wu L., Franke C., Kallemeijn W.W., Florea B.I., Meel E. van, Marel G.A. van der, Codée J.D.C., Boot R.G., Davies G.J., Overkleeft H.S., Aerts J.M.F.G., Detection of Active Mammalian GH31 α-Glucosidases in Health and Disease Using In-Class, Broad-Spectrum Activity-Based Probes, ACS Cent Sci. 2016, 2(5), 351-358.
• Marques A.R., Mirzaian M., Akiyama H., Wisse P., Ferraz M.J., Gaspar P., Ghauharali-van der Vlugt K., Meijer R., Giraldo P., Alfonso P., Irún P., Dahl M., Karlsson S., Pavlova E.V., Cox T.M., Scheij S., Verhoek M., Ottenhoff R., Roomen C.P. van, Pannu N.S., Eijk M. van, Dekker N., Boot R.G., Overkleeft H.S., Blommaart E., Hirabayashi Y., Aerts J.M.F.G., Glucosylated cholesterol in mammalian cells and tissues: formation and degradation by multiple cellular β-glucosidases. J Lipid Res. 2016, 57(3), 451-463.
• Kallemeijn W.W., Li K.Y., Witte M.D., Marques A.R., Aten J., Scheij S., Jiang J., Willems L.I., Voorn-Brouwer T.M., Roomen C.P. van, Ottenhoff R., Boot R.G., Elst H. van den, Walvoort M.T., Florea B.I., Codée J.D.C., Marel G.A. van der, Aerts J.M.F.G., Overkleeft H.S., Novel activity-based probes for broad-spectrum profiling of retaining β-exoglucosidases in situ and in vivo. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2012, 51(50), 12529-12533.
• Dekker N., Dussen L. van, Hollak C.E., Overkleeft H.S., Scheij S., Ghauharali K., Breemen M.J. van, Ferraz M.J., Groener J.E., Maas M., Wijburg F.A., Speijer D., Tylki-Szymanska A., Mistry P.K., Boot R.G., Aerts J.M.F.G., Elevated plasma glucosylsphingosine in Gaucher disease: relation to phenotype, storage cell markers, and therapeutic response. Blood. 2011, 118(16), 118-127.
• Witte M.D., Kallemeijn W.W., Aten J., Li K.Y., Strijland A., Donker-Koopman W.E., Nieuwendijk A.M. van den, Bleijlevens B., Kramer G., Florea B.I., Hooibrink B., Hollak C.E., Ottenhoff R., Boot R.G., Marel G.A. van der, Overkleeft H.S., Aerts J.M.F.G., Ultrasensitive in situ visualization of active glucocerebrosidase molecules. Nat Chem Biol. 2010, 6(12), 907-913.

Presentations including five presentations at international conferences since 2010

42 invited presentations at universities, companies and institutes, and invited, keynote and plenary lectures at international conferences since 2010

2017   Gordon Research Conference on Lysosomes, Il Ciocco, Italy: Plenary lecture: ‘Novel glycolipids’
2015   RIKEN Institute Lecture, Tokyo Japan: Plenary lecture: ‘Glycosylceramide metabolism in health and disease’
2014   Gordon Research Conference on Sphingolipids, Ventura, USA: Session chair and introductory lecture: ‘Sphingolipid storage disorders’
2012   Gordon Research Conference on Sphingolipids, Il Ciocco, Italy: Plenary lecture: ‘Sphingolipid storage disorders’
2011   Gordon Research Conference on Lysosomes, Galveston, USA: Plenary lecture: ‘New ultra-sensitive ways to visualize glucocerebrosidase’