Hermen Overkleeft member KNAW

On September 17th, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) will install 21 new members, including ICI executive board member Hermen Overkleeft (Leiden University). Since its inception, the Academy has been a learned society of outstanding Dutch scientists and scholars. Membership is awarded on the basis of scientific and scholarly achievement. Members are appointed for life

Overkleeft wants to gain insight into biological processes at molecular level. He combines organic chemistry with glycobiology and immunology. He designs, for example reactive molecules that react with different classes of enzymes - both proteases and glycosidases - and subsequently remain irreversibly bonded. Using this toolkit, he has developed diagnostic agents that can be used in a variety of diseases, from haematological cancers to lysosomal storage diseases. These reagents can also be used in the search for compounds that could affect these diseases. Hermen Overkleeft is also scientific director of the Leiden Institute of Chemics.