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Marc Baldus receives prestigious Laukien Prize 2014

25-Mar-2014

Professor Marc Baldus of the department of Chemistry of Utrecht University received this Monday the Günther Laukien Prize 2014 at the 55th Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Günther Laukien Prize, established in 1999, intends to recognize recent cutting-edge experimental NMR research with a high probability of enabling beneficial new applications. It is awarded yearly at the Experimental NMR Conference (ENC) and is one of the most prestigious prizes awarded in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 

With Baldus, for the first time a scientist working the Netherlands has been honored. He received the Laukien Prize 2014 for his work on the structure and dynamics of biomolecules in celmembranes, such as ion channels, kinases, and receptors, with solid-state NMR analytical methods. Marc Baldus received the Laukien Prize from Richard Ernst, his former supervisor and laureate of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Baldus, who received his Ph.D. from the ETH Zurich in 1996 is full Professor of Structural Biology at Utrecht University since 2008 and  heads the NMR Spectroscopy group of the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research at the department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Science. He coordinates the national uNMR-NL consortium that received funding in the NWO National Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Facilities. The Baldus group develops and applies NMR methods to establish structure-function relationships in complex biomolecular systems including Membrane and Amyloid proteins. In addition, the structure and dynamics of biomaterials including hydrogels or liposomal drug carriers are being investigated. Supported by NWO VICI, NWO Groot and NWO Middelgroot grants, he has recently developed several novel NMR-based approaches to study biomolecular structures in a cellular setting and at atomic resolution.