After eleven years at the Biozentrum and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Jan Pieter Abrahams is becoming Professor Emeritus. To mark this occasion, a scientific symposium will be held at the Biozentrum on June 29, 2026, with renowned guest speakers such as Prof. Gebhard Schertler and Prof. Michel Steinmetz, both of whom hold leading positions at PSI, Prof. Gilles van Wezel from Leiden University, and Biozentrum alumnus Prof. Henning Stahlberg from EPFL.
The symposium will conclude with Jan Pieter Abrahams’ farewell lecture, in which he will offer colleagues, students, friends and companions a glimpse into his scientific journey and four decades of research.
Elucidating the structure and function of biomolecules
Jan Pieter Abrahams is an internationally recognized expert in electron-based structural analysis. His research has focused on elucidating the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules, particularly proteins, and how they change shape as they fulfill their function. Proteins are central to virtually all biological processes, ranging from oxygen transport and cellular signaling to immune defense.
To investigate the architecture and function of these highly complex macromolecules at atomic and molecular resolution, Abrahams combined advanced methods from physics and chemistry, including X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, spectroscopic techniques, and computational approaches. In recent years, his work has focused on the development of a novel instrument that uses electron diffraction to resolve protein structures that are difficult to access with conventional methods.
A central objective of his research has been to analyze proteins not as isolated entities, but how they function in their native context. This approach aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of molecular mechanisms in health and disease, for example, amyloid formation in Alzheimer’s disease.
Expert in structural biology
Abrahams has always been drawn to scientific challenges. After 17 years as a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, he moved to Basel to take up two positions: Professor of Structural Biology at the Biozentrum and Head of Laboratory at PSI. Born in Norway, Abrahams studied biology at Leiden University, where he completed his doctorate in 1991. Following a seven-year research stay at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, he was appointed Professor of Structural Biology at Leiden University in 1997. Over the course of his career, Abrahams has published nearly 200 scientific papers.
Jan Pieter Abrahams will give his farewell lecture entitled “From structure to function and back” on June 29 at 4:45 pm in lecture hall U1.131 at the Biozentrum. Colleagues, companions, and all interested people are invited to attend the symposium.
Program
Contact: Communications, Katrin Bühler