Contact

Prof. Dr. Jo Demeester
Laboratory for General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy
Ghent University
Ottergemsesteenweg 460
9000 Gent
Belgium
Tel: 0032 9 2648047 (secretary)
Tel: 0032 9 264 8046 (direct)

E-mail: Jo.Demeester@ugent.be

Biography

Jo Demeester was born in Gent, Belgium in 1951. He received a M. Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ghent University in 1974 and earned a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with greatest distinction in 1980 with Prof. Lauwers. He became Professor at the same University in 1989 at the Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy. He was laureate of the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences in 1980 and First Laureate of the Travel grant of the Ministry of Education in 1981. He did postdoctoral research on light scattering and rheology at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the University of Graz with Prof. Schurz in 1985. He is a member of many scientific organizations, including the Biochemical Society, Vice - President (1994 - 2003) of the Belgian Biophysical Society and President since 2006 of the Belgian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Since 1994 he is Director of the International Centre for Standards of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (F.I.P.) and since 1998 he is expert in the Group on Biological Products of the European Pharmacopeia. Since 1997 he is Director of the Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy. Since 2003 he is President of the Enzyme Commission of the International Pharmaceutical Federation. His current research interests are described in the different projects at the Laboratory of General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy that is hosting the Ghent Research Group on Nanomedicines and the Bio-Photonic Imaging Group. His publications include contributions to Chemical Reviews, Nature Drug Discovery Reviews, Biophysical Journal, Nature Materials etc. He is theme editor of Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 2009 “The mucus barrier to drug and gene delivery”. The research in the field of encoding microcarriers lead to two patent applications and the establishment of a university spin-off Memobead Technologies. The IP has been transferred to the Swiss research company Biocartis.