Editor Profiles
Section Editors
Dennis Claessen
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Microbial biotechnology
Dr. Claessen is an associate professor at Leiden University, and section editor for BMC Biotechnology since 2015. His team addresses fundamental questions related to multicellular growth and development in filamentous bacteria called actinomycetes. These bacteria produce a vast arsenal of useful metabolites, including many clinically relevant antibiotics. By making use of genetic, biochemical, cell-biological, and various next-generation sequencing technologies his team uses a multidisciplinary approach to understand and control the physiology of these bacteria. Ultimately, this knowledge is used to improve the productivity of these useful microorganisms.
Marko Radic
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Applied immunology
Dr. Marko Radic is an Associate Professor in the UTHSC Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry. His research focus centers on the mechanisms leading to autoimmune disease, with an emphasis on disorders that are diagnosed and mediated by autoantibodies. Work from his laboratory has contributed toward understanding the mechanisms of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome, Felty’s Syndrome and Sjögren’s Syndrome. His lab works on recombinant and monoclonal antibodies, chimeric antigen receptors, B cells, T cells and neutrophils. The lab searches for connections between individual protein or nucleic acid autoantigens, their post-translational modifications, immune activation, inflammation and specific disease manifestations.
Neal Stewart
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Plant biotechnology
Since 2002, C. Neal Stewart, Jr. has held the Ivan Racheff Chair of Plant Molecular Genetics at the University of Tennessee. After finishing a PhD from Virginia Tech in 1993 and a two-year postdoc at the University of Georgia, he was on faculty at UNC-Greensboro before taking his current position. His research spans the use of cellular, molecular, and synthetic biology tools for advanced plant genetics. He is also interested in policy issues and the ethics of using genetic engineering and synthetic biology in agriculture. He joined the editorial board of BMC Biotechnology in 2005 and has been the Plant Biotechnology section editor since 2011. Stewart served as a member of the National Academies Committee that produced the 2016 report “Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects.” In 2015 he was elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In his free time he is a singer-songwriter whose songs can be found here: http://www.reverbnation.com/seenealstewart
Peter Punt
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Microbial biotechnology
Peter J. Punt, PhD is Chief Technology Officer of Dutch DNA Biotech BV, a fungal biotechnology technology provider and contract research company situated in the Netherlands. In 1992 he obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam on molecular genetic tool development for fungal gene expression. In 2008 he was appointed at Leiden University in the chair of Industrial Biotechnology again focusing on fungal biotechnology. After a career of more than 30 years at TNO, the Dutch Organisation for Applied scientific research, where he was responsible for designing, acquiring and implementing projects with international biotechnology principals, in 2015 together with colleagues created Dutch DNA Biotech, as a spin-out from TNO. He published about 125 peer-reviewed papers (h-index 45) and 20 patent applications. He was appointed section editor for BMC Biotechnology in 2012.
