Published: 07-06-2024 09:00 | Updated: 18-06-2024 13:30

Jan Ellenberg appointed director for SciLifeLab

Illustration.
Photo: Getty Images

The SciLifeLab board has appointed Professor Jan Ellenberg as the new director. Alongside this role, Professor Ellenberg will also be appointed as a professor at Karolinska Institutet and affiliated professor at Stockholm University and KTH (Royal Institute of Technology). He succeeds Professor Olli Kallioniemi, who has served as SciLifeLab director since 2015.

Professor Ellenberg is moving into his new responsibility from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, where he serves as the Head of the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit at as well as the Head of the EMBL Imaging Centre. 

Portrait of Jan Ellenberg.
Jan Ellenberg. Photo: Stuart Ingham

"I am honored and excited to take on the role of Director at SciLifeLab, with its strong international reputation for fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and driving cutting-edge research in the life sciences. I am excited to lead the future development of SciLifeLab, at a time of unprecedented opportunity where the life sciences start to make living systems predictable and are increasingly important for society”, says Professor Ellenberg. 

Professor Ellenberg is renowned, and awarded, for his groundbreaking research in cell biology, particularly in the areas of advanced imaging and the study of cell division. 

He also has, among other things, extensive leadership experience in building up pan-European research infrastructure, having coordinated the establishment of the Euro-BioImaging ERIC and the EMBL Imaging Centre. In addition, Professor Ellenberg has been the chair of the SciLifeLab International Advisory Board in the past.  

As a professor at KI, Stockholm University and KTH, Jan Ellenberg will also build up a new research group in the fields of cell division and nuclear organization.