Gerry Nicolaes

Associate professor

Dr Gerry Nicolaes received a Masters’ degree in Chemistry from the Utrecht University with majors in clinical chemistry, biochemistry and protein engineering and enzymology. He obtained a PhD from the Maastricht University on the regulation of thrombin formation in normal and hypercoagulable plasma (with Prof. H.C. Hemker) and later spent several years at the laboratory of Prof. B. Dahlbäck at the Lund University (Sweden), focussing on the use of molecular biological technologies in blood coagulation research.

Dr Nicolaes received a Vidi grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to establish a research line that uses structural bioinformatics to rationally approach the structure-function study of proteins involved in coagulation and inflammation. In addition to protein structure-function research, in recent years, in silico drug design and optimisation of biologically active molecules for use in therapy or diagnosis has become one of the major research focusses.

His research interests are within the fields of thrombosis and haemostasis, and in particular on the overlap with the fields of inflammation and atherosclerosis. In this respect, extracellular histones and their role in systemic inflammatory disease and sepsis have evolved into a major research focus.

He is the president of the Netherlands Society on Biomolecular Modelling.

Dr Nicolaes has published more than 80 peer reviewed research papers, has been a co-promotor of 7 successful PhD students and currently supervises 7 more PhD students. He is inventor of several granted patents.