Saskia van der Vies (Biochemistry)
Saskia van der Vies
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Saskia M. van der Vies is full professor at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam where she leads a research group to study the biology of molecular chaperones, their role in protein folding, stress response and neurogenerative diseases.
After graduating for her Bsc and MSc in analytical chemistry and biochemistry respectively, Saskia worked at the Agricultural University in Wageningen for a number of years. In 1984, she paid two 6-months visits to the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge, England, to educate herself in the field of molecular biology. The "English Experience" made her decide to pursue a career in science. She moved to England where she obtained her PhD in biological sciences under the supervision of Prof. R. John Ellis, FRS, at the University of Warwick. Her PhD thesis describes the discovery of a novel class of proteins that is required to assist the folding of other proteins and is part of the family of molecular chaperones.
In 1990 she moved to the USA to work with Dr. Gatenby and Prof. Lorimer, FRS, on the molecular mechanism of chaperone-assisted protein folding at the Central R&D Department of the DuPont company in Wilmington, Delaware. She was invited by Prof. Georgopoulos to join his new lab in Switzerland as a senior scientist and she started working in Geneva in 1992 on the molecular mechanism of the chaperonin proteins. Saskia stayed in Geneva for six years.
In 1998, after living abroad for 13 years, Saskia returned to the Netherlands and was appointed full professor in biochemistry at the VU University in Amsterdam. From 2000-2005 she was Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. From 2001- 2006 she was the Director of the Interdepartmental Research Programme "Chemistry of complex molecules". She moved to the VU University Medical Center in 2007 to extend her research to the area of protein folding disease like Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.
Saskia van der Vies has been an active scientist in the Molecular Chaperone field since it started in 1988. She made many fundamental contributions to understanding the structure and function of the chaperonin proteins. Her work has been published in over 50 papers in leading journals and she has written various book chapters. She has been an invited speaker at international scientific meetings and has (inter)national collaborations with several groups in the field of mass spectrometry, biophysics, electron microscopy, neurology, clinical chemistry and neuropathology.
In addition to her broad scientific interest, Saskia van der Vies is involved in science-related issues, such as Science and Society, Science Policy and (Wo)men in Science. She gives radio interviews on science and has been on National Dutch television twice as a participant in Annual National Science Quiz. She is involved in promoting science for the general public and participates in "Children question time" (organised by the Science Museum in Amsterdam) where children meet scientists. She is the current chairman of the Netherlands Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NVBMB) and a member of the Executive Committee of the Royal Dutch Society for Chemistry (KNCV). From 2005-2008 she was a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and chairman of the FEBS Working Group on Women in Science. She has organised some 12 workshops in various countries on how to make a career in science and on issues related to (wo)men in science. Saskia van der Vies played a major role in the establishment of the FEBS/EMBO Women in Science award.