‘It’s a great honor to join Utrecht University as a professor,’ says Heidenreich. ‘I’m really pleased to bring my expertise to the university, and of course, to learn and collaborate with other leading scientists. This role gives me the opportunity to strengthen connections with other research groups, especially in areas such as the immune microenvironment and nanotechnology, areas that hold great promise in improving treatment for children with leukemia. I’m particularly looking forward to being more closely involved in supervising Bachelor, Master and PhD students and promoting students here in Utrecht.’
Professor Olaf Heidenreich leads a research group at the Princess Máxima Center focusing on how changes in the DNA and its chromosomes drive the development and progression of childhood leukemia. So-called fusion genes are typical of these blood cancers. His group is exploring innovative therapies that target fusion genes to block the progression of leukemia in children. With this approach, they aim to find treatments that specifically target leukemia cells, while minimizing side effects. Heidenreich’s appointment as professor at Utrecht University marks an important step forward in developing innovative treatments for children with leukemia.
From fundamental to translational research
Heidenreich’s academic journey began with a strong foundation in biology and microbiology. He completed his PhD at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, where he worked on nucleic acid chemistry and catalytic RNAs, techniques which would later also contribute to the revolutionary RNA interference and CRISPR gene editing technologies. He then moved to the University of California San Diego. Heidenreich: ‘There, I met a very strong-minded pediatric oncologist, Shin-Heh Kang, who introduced me to childhood cancer. It was a pivotal moment in my career. Since then it’s always been my aim to hit cancer, and now specifically childhood leukemia, in a very tumor-specific way. The more precisely we can hit the disease, the more effectively we can aim to treat children with leukemia.’
His ambitions in targeted cancer treatment led him to the University of Tübingen in Germany, and then to Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. During Heidenreich’s time in Newcastle, he particularly focused on developing cancer-specific therapies for childhood leukemia. Around the same time as the UK’s impending exit from the EU, the preparations for the Princess Máxima Center were in full swing. It led to Heidenreich moving to the Netherlands in 2018 to join the largest childhood cancer research hospital in Europe.
Olaf Heidenreich has held a full professorship at Newcastle University since 2012. He has been appointment as Professor at Utrecht University as of 15 October 2024. He will deliver his inaugural lecture on October 1, 2025.