17 May 2023 Geert Kops new director of Hubrecht Institute Back to news Molecular cell biologist Geert Kops will become the new director of the Academy’s Hubrecht Institute as of 1 September. Prof. Kops (aged 49 ) is currently a group leader at the institute. He is also scientific director of the Oncode Institute and a professor of molecular tumour cell biology at the Utrecht University Medical Centre. Geert Kops succeeds Alexander van Oudenaarden, who has led the Hubrecht Institute for the past ten years. Kops’ research is very wide ranging, from molecular mechanisms to diseases such as cancer. He is interested in the processes that ensure correct chromosome distribution during cell division. Flaws in that process cause chromosomal abnormalities, which underlie developmental disorders, miscarriages, and cancer. Kops has been a professor at Utrecht University Medical Centre since 2011 and a group leader at the Hubrecht Institute since 2015. Since 2018 he has been on the board of the Oncode Institute, a virtual cancer institute supported by a number of ministries and the KWF Dutch Cancer Society. As scientific director of Oncode, Kops is responsible for establishing and leading a national partnership involving research institutes (including Hubrecht), companies, and hospitals. As director of the Hubrecht Institute, he plans to strengthen ties with similar institutes both nationally and internationally. The aim is to engage in research cooperation, joint fundraising, sharing of research facilities, and exchange of best practices in a wide range of areas such as inclusivity and climate, both in the Netherlands and abroad. He also has plans for closer contact with the general public, including public discussion of topics at the interface between basic research and society.
