Associate Professor
Erasmus Medical Center, Netherlands
Erik Wiemer was trained as a molecular/cell biologist and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam in 1991. His thesis dealt with the biogenesis of peroxisomes in the context of inherited and severely debilitating, peroxisomal disorders. From 1990 – 1992 he worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the de Duve Institute of the Université Catholique de Louvain in Brussels. In the Research Unit for Tropical Diseases of Fred Opperdoes and Paul Michels he studied glycosomal enzymes and pyruvate transport in trypanosomes. Mid 1992 he moved to the department of Biology of the University of California at San Diego investigating peroxisomal biogenesis in yeast and man in the group of Suresh Subramani. Upon returning to the Netherlands towards the end of 1995, he entered the field of cancer research by joining the department of Hematology of the Erasmus Medical Center where he investigated the mechanisms of drug resistance, particularly the role of the vault complex, in hematological malignancies. In 2002 he transferred to the department of Medical Oncology of the Erasmus Medical Center to work on drug resistance, pharmacokinetics / pharmacodynamics and miRNAs in solid tumors, becoming a group leader in 2004 and an associate professor in 2009. His current research interests are: 1) The molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis with a special interest in the biology of soft-tissue sarcomas, ovarian cancer and lung cancer. 2) The involvement of microRNAs and other non-protein coding RNAs in the development and maintenance of cancer. 3) The identification and use of diagnostic/prognostic and predictive biomarkers in cancer. 4) The identification of novel drug targets and treatment strategies for cancer.
