Johannes (Hans) Carolus Clevers (born 27 March 1957) is a Dutch molecular geneticist, cell biologist and

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...

researcher. He became the Head of Pharma, Research and Early Development, and a member of the Corporate Executive Committee, of the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

healthcare company

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...

in 2022. Previously, he headed a research group at the Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research and at the ; he remained as an advisor and guest scientist or visiting researcher to both groups. He is also a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

in Molecular Genetics at the University of Utrecht.

Early life and education

Hans Clevers was born in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1957. He began studying

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

at the University of Utrecht in 1975, but also started taking

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

in 1978, in part due to his interest and in part because his friends and brothers were in the medical profession. He spent 1 year in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, and half a year at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the lat ...

in Bethesda,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, for biology rotations. He received a ''Doctoraal'' (equivalent to an MSc) in Biology in 1982 and an ''Artsexamen'' (equivalent to an MD) in 1984. Mostly because of his research background, Clevers was selected for a training position in paediatrics, and then went to pursue a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

in 1985, under the supervision of

Rudy Ballieux Rudolf Eugène Pierre Albertus "Rudy" Ballieux (17 September 1930 – 22 October 2020) was a Dutch immunologist. Career Ballieux was born on 17 September 1930 in Pekalongan in the Dutch East Indies. After attending the Hogere Burgerschool he st ...

. He obtained his PhD 1 year later.

Career

After his

, Clevers went to the

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana–Farber is the founding member of Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated ...

as a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

at Cox Terhorst's group. In 1989, he returned to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, joining his '' alma mater'', the University of Utrecht, as an assistant professor at the Department of Clinical Immunology. In 1991, Clevers became a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

and the chair of the Department of

Immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see ther ...

at the University of Utrecht. He moved to the

University Medical Center Utrecht The University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU; Dutch: ''Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht'') is the main hospital of the city of Utrecht, Netherlands. It is affiliated with the Utrecht University. Since the foundation of the university in 1636 an ...

in 2002 as a professor in

molecular genetics Molecular genetics is a sub-field of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the ...

, and started his lab at the Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research (Hubrecht Institute). At the same time, he took up the position of Director of the Hubrecht Institute. In March 2012, Clevers was elected the president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, succeeding Robbert Dijkgraaf. His term concluded in 2015, and he started another lab at the , focusing on childhood cancer, and became the Director Research and Chief Scientific Officer there until 2019. Clevers left University Medical Center Utrecht and was appointed

in Molecular Genetics at the University of Utrecht in 2020. In 2022, Clevers joined the

healthcare company

as its Head of Pharma, Research and Early Development and a member of its Corporate Executive Committee. He remains an advisor and guest scientist or visiting researcher to his research groups at the Princess Máxima Center and Hubrecht Institute. Since 2017, Clevers is an investigator at the Oncode Institute in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. Clevers has served at a number of scientific organizations, including on the Board of Directors of the

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including basic, clinical, and tr ...

(2013-2016), and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research at the

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

(2005-2015), the

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) is a biomedical research center, which conducts curiosity-driven basic research in the molecular life sciences. The IMP is located at the Vienna Biocenter in Vienna, Austria. The institute em ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(2015-2021) and the

Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Impe ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He is currently on the advisory board of various

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such ...

s, including '' The EMBO Journal'', '' Disease Models & Mechanisms'', '' Cell'', '' Cell Stem Cell'' and '' EMBO Molecular Medicine''. From 2014 to 2022, he was also on the editorial committee of the '' Annual Review of Cancer Biology''. Outside the academia, Clevers has been a scientific advisor to numerous

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

companies. He also co-founded

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

-based Surrozen in 2016 and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

-based D1 Medical Technology in 2019.

Research

Clevers's early career focused on the

Wnt signaling pathway The Wnt signaling pathways are a group of signal transduction pathways which begin with proteins that pass signals into a cell through cell surface receptors. The name Wnt is a portmanteau created from the names Wingless and Int-1. Wnt signaling ...

. His group identified the TCF1 protein, a member of the TCF gene family and a crucial downstream component of the Wnt signaling pathway, making it central in

immune response An immune response is a reaction which occurs within an organism for the purpose of defending against foreign invaders. These invaders include a wide variety of different microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi which coul ...

embryonic development An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm ...

and tissue repair. His interest in the

gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

began with the discovery that another TCF family member, the TCF4 protein, is required in forming intestinal crypts. Collaborating with

Bert Vogelstein Bert Vogelstein (born 1949) is director of the Ludwig Center, Clayton Professor of Oncology and Pathology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at The Johns Hopkins Medical School and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. A pio ...

, he found that in

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowe ...

where the APC gene is doubly mutated, TCF family members activate catenin beta-1, which then enhances the expression of many genes that cause cancer transformation, connecting the Wnt signaling pathway with colon cancer. In 2007, Clevers's group identified a marker for

s of the

small Small may refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...

and

large intestine The large intestine, also known as the large bowel, is the last part of the gastrointestinal tract and of the digestive system in tetrapods. Water is absorbed here and the remaining waste material is stored in the rectum as feces before bein ...

LGR5 Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5 (LGR5) also known as G-protein coupled receptor 49 (GPR49) or G-protein coupled receptor 67 (GPR67) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LGR5 gene. It is a member of GPCR class ...

, itself also a target of the Wnt signaling pathway. This led to his finding that LGR5 is a stem cell marker in other organs as well, including the

stomach The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach i ...

and

hair follicle The hair follicle is an organ found in mammalian skin. It resides in the dermal layer of the skin and is made up of 20 different cell types, each with distinct functions. The hair follicle regulates hair growth via a complex interaction between ...

s. Building on this discovery, in 2009, his group published a landmark paper, describing for the first time how

organoid An organoid is a miniaturized and simplified version of an organ produced in vitro in three dimensions that shows realistic micro-anatomy. They are derived from one or a few cells from a tissue, embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent ste ...

s, which are 3-dimensional ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called " test-tube experiments", these studies in biology a ...

'' structures that behave anatomically and molecularly like the organ from which they are derived, were generated from

adult stem cell Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. Also known as somatic stem cells (from Greek σωματικóς, ...

s, creating organoids of the

small intestine The small intestine or small bowel is an organ (anatomy), organ in the human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract where most of the #Absorption, absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intes ...

. Clevers's group has applied this technology to culturing organoids from other organs, such as the stomach and

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...

, as well as from various

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

types, including cancer of the

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...

and the

ovaries The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. T ...

. This platform has since been applied in personalized medicine, by generating organoids from specific patients to screen for drugs. This is not limited to cancer but is applicable to other diseases as well (for example, cystic fibrosis). His current major research interest is in using organoids derived from adult stem cells to study the molecular mechanism of tissue and cancer development. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Clevers's group modelled the infection of

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

using

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

organoids.

Honours and awards

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the European Molecular Biology Organization (1999) *

of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

(2000) *

Spinoza Prize The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosoph ...

(2001) * Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2004) * Knight of the Legion of Honour (2005) * Meyenburg Prize (2008) * Member of

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

(2009) * Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine (2011) * International Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

(2012) *

William Beaumont Prize The William Beaumont Prize is a scientific award given by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) to scientists who have "made a major contribution (a single accomplishment or series of accomplishments) that has significantly advanced car ...

(2012) * Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine (2012) * Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (2012) * Member of

Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen The Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities), located on the east side of the Spaarne in downtown Haarlem, Netherlands, was established in 1752 and is the oldest society for the sci ...

(2012) * Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2013) * International Member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

(2014) * Fellow of the

Academy * Foreign Associate of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...

(2015) *

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

(2016) *

Körber European Science Prize The Körber European Science Prize is presented annually by the Körber Foundation in Hamburg honoring outstanding scientists working in Europe for their promising research projects. The prize is endowed with one million euro (until 2018: 750,000 e ...

(2016) * Knight Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(2018) * Foreign Member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(2019) *

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in ...

of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

(2019) * Keio Medical Science Prize (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clevers, Hans 1957 births Living people Dutch geneticists Dutch immunologists Fellows of the AACR Academy Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of Academia Europaea Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) People from Eindhoven Spinoza Prize winners Stem cell researchers Utrecht University alumni Utrecht University faculty Winners of the Heineken Prize Recipients of the Legion of Honour Members of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen