Geert Kops obtained his PhD cum laude in 2001 from Utrecht University for his investigations into the oncogenic PI3K-PKB/Akt–FOXO pathway and its role in cellular proliferation. He then pursued postdoctoral studies in the lab of Don Cleveland at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in La Jolla, USA, where he investigated molecular mechanisms of chromosome segregation. Geert returned to the Netherlands in 2005 as a group leader at UMC Utrecht, where he became Professor of Molecular Tumor Cell Biology in 2011. He was the head of the laboratory for Medical Oncology from 2011 to 2014, and has been the Scientific Director of Oncode Institute since 2018.

After a research sabbatical at the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center in Seattle, USA, Geert joined the Hubrecht Institute in October 2015. His primary research interests include molecular mechanisms of chromosome segregation, evolution of cell division processes and the causes and consequences of chromosomal instability in cancer. Geert is the recipient of the KNCV gold medal 2014, the NVBMB prize 2004, and the Von Freyburg medal in 2006, and was elected to the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) in 2013. He was awarded NWO-Vidi and Vici grants in 2006 and 2013, respectively, ERC Starting and Synergy grants from the European Research Council in 2009 and 2019, respectively, and he is co-lead of the NWO Gravitation project IMAGINE!. Geert co-developed ‘De Gemene Deler’, a teaching module for high schools about molecular mechanisms, cells and cancer.

• 2022: NWO Gravitation award

• 2019: Cozzarelli Prize for PNAS paper of the year in Class II (Biological Sciences)

• 2016: PhD supervisor of the year (runner-up), Utrecht Life Sciences

• 2014: Gold Medal of the Royal Dutch Chemistry Society (KNCV)

• 2013: NWO-Vici grant

• 2013: Best Masters course of the Utrecht Graduate School of Life Sciences

• 2013: Elected to the Young Academy of Europe (YAE)

• 2009: ERC StG/CoG (prior to separation into StG and CoG)

• 2006: NWO-Vidi grant

• 2006: Von Freyburg Medal (Catharijne Foundation)

• 2004: NVBMB prize (Netherlands Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

• 2001: KWF (Dutch Cancer Society) preclinical- and fundamental research fellowship

• 2000: Young talent award, UMC Utrecht

1. Klaasen SJ, Truong MA, van Jaarsveld RH, Koprivec I, Štimac V, de Vries SG, Risteski P, Kodba S, Vukušić K, de Luca KL, Marques JF, Gerrits EM, Bakker B, Foijer F, Kind J, Tolić IM, Lens SMA, Kops GJPL. Nuclear chromosome locations dictate segregation error frequencies. Nature 607 (2022), 604-609

2. Hoevenaar W, Janssen A, Quirindongo AI, Ma H, Klaasen S, Teixeira A, Offerhaus GJA, Medema RH, Kops GJPL*, Jelluma N*. Degree and site of chromosomal instability define its oncogenic potential. Nat Commun 11 (2020), 1501. *joint senior authors

3. Bolhaqueiro ACF, Ponsioen B, Bakker B, Klaasen SJ, Kucukkose E, Van Jaarsveld RH, Vivié J, Verlaan-Klink I, Hami N, Spierings DCJ, Sasaki N, Dutta D, Boi SF, Vries RGJ, Lansdorp PM, Van de Wetering M, Van Oudenaarden A, Clevers H, Kranenburg O, Foijer F, Snippert HGJ, Kops GJPL. Ongoing chromosomal instability and karyotype evolution in human colorectal cancer organoids. Nat Genet. 51 (2019), 824-834.

4. Sacristan C, Ahmad MAD, Keller J, Fermie J, Groenewold V, Tromer E, Fish A, Melero R, Carazo JM, Klumperman J, Musacchio A, Perrakis A, Kops GJPL. Dynamic kinetochore size regulation promotes microtubule capture and chromosome biorientation in mitosis. Nat Cell Biol 20 (2018), 800-810.

5. Hiruma Y, Sacristan C, Pachis ST, Adamopoulos A, Kuijt T, Ubbink M, Von Castelmur E, Perrakis A, Kops GJPL. (2015). Competition between MPS1 and microtubules at kinetochores regulates spindle checkpoint signaling. Science, 348 (6240), 1264-1267.