Anne S. Meyer

The Danish National Research Foundation is the funding body in Denmark that does the most to support important basic research at an international level. I look forward with great respect and humility to joining the board and helping to pursue the Foundation’s goals.

I have been employed at DTU since beginning my PhD studies in 1990, and have been a professor there since 2006. In my daily life, I lead a research group that seeks to identify, characterize, produce, and understand the function of different enzymes, usually with an application in mind. My research work thus involves providing the research basis for understanding and implementing biocatalytic processes, and developing new applications and methods related to health, the environment, and the climate. This work often includes protein engineering, aimed at documenting, improving, or changing the function of the enzyme. The process usually starts with understanding the substrate and/or assessing and comparing DNA sequences from different microorganisms (genome sequences). We then produce the target enzyme(s) in a suitable microbial host, often with the aim of investigating the relationship between the enzymes’ sequence and function, including substrate selectivity, reaction mechanism, robustness, and kinetics. The goal is to use enzymatic catalysis in many different processes and in a sustainable context.

Currently, the work ranges from studying the enzymology of microorganisms in the human microbiome to identifying and developing enzymes and enzyme processes – e.g., for the isolation and use of plant fibers, the use of seaweed, and conversion of CO₂ as a source of carbon – to the production of various components intended to replace the use of fossil carbon.

The research work, which constantly iterates between theory and method, is thus wide-ranging and interdisciplinary. It incorporates biotechnology in a broad sense, especially molecular biology and the use of the latest methods in the field including quantitative measurements of the enzymes and entails collaboration with a variety of specialists in Denmark and abroad – in my case, with both academia and industry.

I have several years of experience reviewing proposals and evaluating research in Denmark and abroad.