Great international recognition of Torben Heick Jensen
Professor Torben Heick Jensen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, has achieved great international recognition with his nomination as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). The election to EMBO is in recognition of Professor Jensen’s outstanding research within gene expression.
Every year, about 150 of the most renowned European molecular biologists are nominated for membership of EMBO, but only about 50 get through the eye of a needle. They represent fields ranging from molecular biology and neuroscience to computational neurobiology and cellular immunology. They must first be nominated by ten EMBO members from different European laboratories, after which the EMBO members decide by voting who should be elected.
Only the very best molecular biologists in Europe thus achieve this recognition. Out of a total of approximately 1600 EMBO members, there are now 21 Danes (including eight from Aarhus University).
The EMBO members have a significant influence on developments in molecular biological research in Europe. Several members serve on different EMBO committees that award grants to the organisation of international conferences and practical courses, as well as granting scholarships to young researchers to work in European laboratories to encourage mobility and promote their career opportunities.
About Torben Heick Jensen
After three years as a postdoctoral scholar at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brandeis University, USA, Torben Heick Jensen (46) was appointed assistant professor and subsequently associate professor at Aarhus University. In 2010, he was appointed professor at what was then the Department of Molecular Biology.
In 2004, Dr Jensen was awarded the prestigious five-year Hallas Møller Fellowship from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. In 2005, the Danish National Research Foundation awarded him a five-year grant to establish a Centre of Excellence – the Centre for mRNP Biogenesis and Metabolism. After an international evaluation, this grant was extended for another five years to 2015, so that the allocation for the ten years reached almost DKK 80 million.
Research area
Dr Jensen’s research covers the regulation and quality control of gene expression at both DNA and RNA levels. For the past decade, his research group has contributed to identifying the molecular mechanisms that help to sort gene expression of human cells in useful products, for example, and products that can be removed rapidly to prevent pathological conditions. This basic research approach therefore has immediate biomedical relevance.
More information
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Centre for mRNP Biogenesis and Metabolism
Aarhus University, Denmark
thj@mb.au.dk - +45 6020 2705
Tekst: Torben Heick Jensen og Lisbeth Heilesen
Translation: Lisbeth Heilesen