Berezikov: Genomics' next top model

Eugene Berezikov studied natural sciences at the Novosibirsk State University (Russia), specializing in molecular biology, and graduated with honors in 1997. He received PhD degree in molecular biology from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (Novosibirsk, Russia) in 2000. For his postdoctoral studies he joined the laboratory of Prof. Ronald Plasterk at the Hubrecht Institute, where he developed a method for homologous gene targeting in C. elegans and performed series of works on discovery of small RNAs. In 2007 he was appointed as a group leader at the Hubrecht Institute, where he introduced the flatworm M. lignano as a new model organism for research on stem cells and regeneration. In 2010 he was selected as EMBO Young Investigator. His group combines computational and experimental approaches to study functions of small RNAs. His research is supported by Horizon Breakthrough and VIDI grants (NWO) and ERA-NET grant (FP6).