Rute NEves and John McCafferty

DTU Bioengineering strengthens its ties to industry

Bioteknologi og biokemi Medicin og medicoteknik

With the appointment of two affiliated professors from Chr. Hansen and IONTAS, DTU Bioengineering strengthens its ties to industry and gains valuable support for the strategic development of the department.

Director Ana Rute Neves from Chr. Hansen and John McCafferty, founder and CEO at IONTAS have recently been appointed Affiliated Professors at DTU Bioengineering. Head of Department Bjarke Bak Christensen is proud that that two such highly qualified researchers will become affiliated with the department and says further:

 “It is absolutely essential for DTU Bioengineering to have strong ties to industry and it is something that we have been working on purposefully for several years. I believe that these new affiliations will be of benefit to the department and to the two companies Chr. Hansen and IONTAS, that are both leading biotech companies at the forefront of research.”

"It is absolutely essential for DTU Bioengineering to have strong ties to industry and it is something that we have been working on purposefully for several years. I believe that these new affiliations will be of benefit to the department and to the two companies Chr. Hansen and IONTAS, that are both leading biotech companies at the forefront of research."
Bjarke Bak Christensen, Head of DTU Bioengineering

The professorships fit very well into the strategic development of the department and Rute Neves and John McCafferty are going to help develop the department further within their fields of expertise.

The research interests of Ana Rute Neves are focused on identification of factors and understanding of mechanisms that control cellular metabolism in Gram-positive bacteria. The insights gained from these studies provide a firm basis for improvement and selection of strains with desired functional properties. Her knowledge and insights is highly useful for DTU Bioengineering:

“Among other things, Rute is going to helps us to combine bioinformatics and high-throughput strain development technologies which is absolutely essential if we are to move forward and realize the full potential of the department”, says Bjarke Bak Christensen.

About the appointment Ana Rute Neves says:

“The research carried out at DTU Bioengineering within the areas of biotechnology, food technology and human health are a great fit to our research activities at Chr. Hansen. With this honorary position I will have the opportunity to bridge the best of two worlds: the ground-breaking discoveries in academia and their potential applications in industry.”

John McCafferty is co-founder of Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) and is one of the inventors of antibody phage display, a technology that has revolutionized monoclonal antibody drug discovery. He later formed IONTAS, an innovative biotechnology company using phage display to develop novel antibody therapeutics. At IONTAS he continues the development of ground-breaking technologies to help accelerate the development of novel drugs that target unmet medical needs. This include a novel mammalian display platform and a novel antibody fusion format (“KnotBodies”) that facilitates the targeting of ion channels, GPCRs and proteases.

“With his extensive insight and research background, John will help us strengthen phage display technology and our antibody discovery platforms, which have the potential to position the department at the forefront of biotherapeutics,” says Bjarke Bak Christensen.

“I am delighted to receive this honor. DTU Bioengineering has a strong focus on biotechnology and the biological and molecular systems which are used in development of diagnostics and therapeutics. I look forward to building on the collaborations which we have already initiated,”

says John McCafferty about his appointment as Affiliated Professor at DTU Bioengineering.

 

Affiliated Professor

The title of Affiliated Professor is conferred on researchers of high academic standing whom the institution wishes to honour with this title and thereby associate more closely with the institution. The title can also be conferred on individuals who, without being researchers of high academic standing, possess qualifications at a high academic level. With the two new appointments DTU has 39 affiliated professors.