Guy R. Cornelis is a Belgian

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

Life

Cornelis graduated in

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

, studied in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, UK and received his PhD from the

University of Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

, Belgium in 1974. He studied

antibiotic resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resis ...

plasmid A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria and ...

s in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

(UK) and

transposons A transposable element (TE), also transposon, or jumping gene, is a type of mobile genetic element, a nucleic acid sequence in DNA that can change its position within a genome. The discovery of mobile genetic elements earned Barbara McClinto ...

at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

and at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, Germany. After his appointment as Professor in Louvain in 1984, he investigated bacterial

pathogenesis In pathology, pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes . Descript ...

and joined in 1991 the Christian de Duve Institute in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In 2001, he was appointed Professor of

Molecular Microbiology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. Though cells and other microsco ...

at the Biozentrum,

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Since

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

in 2012, he pursues his research at the

University of Namur A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, Belgium.

Work

Cornelis investigates the complex mechanisms of bacterial

infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

. He received particular recognition for the co-discovery with H. Wolf-Watz (Umea, Sweden) of the bacterial

type III secretion system The type III secretion system (T3SS or TTSS) is one of the bacterial secretion systems used by bacteria to secrete their effector proteins into the host's cells to promote virulence and colonisation. While the type III secretion system has been ...

(T3SS). T3SS is a mechanism by which many

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

inject a cocktail of

toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived ...

s, so-called effector proteins into animal, plant or insect cells. The effectors disarm or reprogram the target cell by sabotaging the

cellular signaling In biology, cell signaling (cell signalling in British English) is the Biological process, process by which a Cell (biology), cell interacts with itself, other cells, and the environment. Cell signaling is a fundamental property of all Cell (biol ...

network. The T3SS apparatus, called injectisome, is a complex nanosyringe made of more than 25 different

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

s. Since 2004, Cornelis also studies

Capnocytophaga canimorsus ''Capnocytophaga canimorsus'' is a fastidious, slow-growing, Gram-negative rod of the genus '' Capnocytophaga''. It is a commensal bacterium in the normal gingival microbiota of canine and feline species, but can cause illness in humans. Trans ...

, a bacterium from dog's mouths responsible for fatal infections in humans. Cornelis belongs to the world’s most cited scientists.

Awards and honors

*1980: Prize of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine *1985: Pfizer Prize *1993: Member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine *1998 Elected Member of the

European Molecular Biology Organization The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(EMBO) *2008: Member of the American Academy for Microbiology (AAM)

References

External links

University of Namur: Guy CornelisBiozentrum University of BaselERC Advanced Investigator GrantBook: Toxin – the cunning of bacterial poisons by Alistair Lax
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelis Guy R Living people Université catholique de Louvain University of Freiburg Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization Biozentrum University of Basel Academic staff of the Université de Namur Year of birth missing (living people)