Alexander Kanitz

Contact information

• ETH Zurich
  

     Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
     Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Pharmacogenomics Unit
     Wolfgang Pauli-Strasse 10
     8093 Zurich
     Switzerland
     Google Maps link

• Email: alexander.kanitz@pharma.ethz.ch

Research interests

• Gene regulatory networks
• Laboratory automation / informatics ("Science 2.0")
• Synthetic biology

Current position

I am currently looking for a post-doc position that allows me to apply and further develop my bioinformatics skills, ideally for the description of gene regulatory networks or the development of lab automation software/services.

Research experience

11-2007 – 12-2011
Pharmacogenomics Unit, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Supervision: Prof. Dr. André Gerber, Prof. Dr. Michael Detmar
Project title: “Tools and strategies for the unraveling of post-transcriptional gene regulatory networks”

12-2006 – 02-2007
Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Supervision: Prof. Dr. Stanley Brul, Dr. Hans van der Spek
Project title: “Status, complications and future prospects of highly active antiretroviral therapy”

02-2006 – 07-2006
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
Supervision: Prof. Dr. Vinay Tergaonkar
Project title: “Characterization of a putative IKK2 in Danio Rerio”

10-2004 – 09-2005
Department of Hepatology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Supervision: Prof. Dr. Jurgen Seppen
Project titles: ”Lentiviral gene transfer of chemically inducible hepatocyte growth factor receptor” and “Liver re-targeting of lentiviral particles”

03-2004 – 07-2004
Institute of Biological Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Supervision: Prof. Dr. Arne Skerra, Dr. habil. Ingo Korndörfer
Project title: ”Production and characterization of the enzymatically active domain of the endolysine Ply500 isolated from Listeria monocytogenes bacteriophage A 500”

08-2003 – 10-2003 & 07-2004 – 08-2004
Traineeships Research and Development at Micromet, Inc., Munich, Germany

Acquired skills

Experienced with transcriptomics (microarray) and proteomics (mass spectrometry) techniques as well as standard biochemical, molecular and cell biological techniques (cell culturing, cloning, Western/Northern blotting, immunopurification, qPCR, FACS, immunofluorescence, in vitro enzymatic and binding assays); used model systems: human cell lines, zebrafish, E. coli, P. pastoris, lentiviral vectors; profound knowledge of statistical and bioinformatics-based analytical methods (intermediate to advanced knowledge of Perl); highly developed scientific writing, data preparation, presentation and publication skills

Education

Molecular Life Sciences, Ph.D., ETH Zurich, Switzerland (December 2011)
Medical Biochemistry, M.Sc., University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (March 2007)
Molecular Biotechnology, B.Sc., Technical University of Munich, Germany (July 2004)

Expertise

Profound knowledge of gene regulatory systems and networks with a particular focus on post-transcriptional gene regulation; strong background in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology; familiarity with bioinformatics and biotechnology concepts and methods

Publications

• Kanitz A, Gerber AP. (2010). Circuitry of mRNA regulation. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med. 2(2):245-51

• Galgano A, Forrer M, Jaskiewicz L, Kanitz A, Zavolan M, Gerber AP. (2008). Comparative analysis of mRNA targets for human PUF-family proteins suggests extensive interaction with the miRNA regulatory system. PLoS One. 3(9):e3164

• Korndörder IP, Kanitz A, Danzer J, Zimmer M, Loessner MJ, Skerra A. (2008). Structural analysis of the L-alanoyl-D-glutamate endopeptidase domain of Listeria bacteriophage endolysin Ply500 reveals a member of the LAS peptidase family. Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 64(Pt 6):644-50

• Markusic DM, Kanitz A, Oude-Elferink RP, Seppen J. (2007). Preferential gene transfer of lentiviral vectors to liver-derived cells, using a hepatitis B peptide displayed on GP64. Hum Gene Ther. 18(7):673-9

Links

• Gerber Lab, Institute of Biosciences and Medicine, University of Surrey, UK
• Detmar Lab, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• Life Science Zurich Graduate School
• Tergaonkar Lab, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore
• Skerra Lab, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Germany (German only)