Dick Hoekstra - Deputy Chair

Dick Hoekstra received his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands in 1980, and carried out postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (Department of Embryology, Baltimore, USA). Here he worked on fluorescently tagged lipids as a tool in cell biology and in monitoring membrane fusion. In 1990, he was appointed Professor of Physiological Chemistry at the University of Groningen. Presently, he is Professor of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, and Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology, at the University Medical Centre, University of Groningen. Throughout his career his research interests have focused on the (cell) biology and biophysics of membranes. Current major topics are the biogenesis of membrane polarity (bile canalicular membrane and myelin sheath) and the development and mechanisms of cationic lipid-based vectors in gene delivery.