Jens Peter von Kries's Biography

Jens Peter von Kries, Head of Screening, FMP/Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology

SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION
1991 Ph.D., University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany (Molecular Biology)
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
1991-1995 Postdoc, UKE, research on chromatin organization by nuclear matrix proteins
1995-2000 Postdoc in group of W. Birchmeier, research on Wnt-signaling and protein interactions
2000-2003 Head of Screening Unit at Semaia Pharmaceuticals, Berlin-Dortmund (DE)-Utrecht (NL)
2003-2014 Head of Screening Unit at FMP, Berlin
ADVISORY BOARDS
SF-CAST Norway, Scientific Advisory Board (2011-2014)
Head of joint sections in Chemical Biology at DECHEMA, Frankfurt (since 2012)
MAIN RESEARCH FOCUS
My research team serves for assay development and optimization to enable for drug screening with biochemical and cellular test systems in high-throughput. A major focus is on the development of automated object identification routines to support for high-content screening with cellular model systems for cancer development and metastasis. Furthermore we broaden the portfolio of detection systems to serve for academic guest projects to enable for systematic use of bioactive compounds to explore the molecular function of biological systems in heath and disease. Highlights of our collaboration projects demonstrate that approved drugs for diseases like depression or others are capable to kill aggressive lymphomas or rescue heart development in zebrafish. Moreover we identified bioactive compounds which interfere with Wnt dependent tumor development or with Met induced metastasis.