Denis Wirtz

Denis Wirtz
Born Denis Wirtz
(1965-02-20) February 20, 1965
Brussels, Belgium
Nationality United States
Belgium
Fields Chemical Engineering
Biomolecular Engineering
Pathology
Oncology
Materials Science
Alma mater Université libre de Bruxelles (B.S.)
Stanford University(M.S., Ph.D.)
Doctoral advisor Gerald G. Fuller(Ph.D.)
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes(Postdoctoral Fellowship)
Known for 3D Cell Motility
Digital Pathology
Cancer Metastasis
Nuclear dynamics
Tumor Microenvironment
Particle-tracking Microrheology
Notable awards Fellow of the American Physical Society
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS Fellow)
Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
National Science Foundation CAREER Award
Biomedical Engineering Foundation Award, Whitaker Foundation
Hoover Fellow, Belgian American Educational Foundation
Website
Vice Provost for Research Webpage

Denis Wirtz is the Vice Provost for Research and Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor of Engineering Science at Johns Hopkins University. He is an expert in the molecular and biophysical mechanisms of cell motility and adhesion and nuclear dynamics in health and disease.[1] Notably, he was the first to establish how a 3-dimensional environment fundamentally affects the way cancer cells migrate, providing more biologically and medically-relevant information than 2D studies.[2] He also pioneered the technique of particle-tracking microrheology to probe the rheological properties of complex fluids and living cells and tissues. He is a professor in the Departments of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering, and in the Departments of Oncology and Pathology in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.[3]

Wirtz was named Vice Provost for Research in February 2014, charged with directing the university’s $2.24 billion research enterprise, the largest in the United States,[4][5] implementing institutional research compliance, expanding research development,[6] and producing and managing cross-divisional research initiatives, such as the Johns Hopkins Catalyst and Discovery Awards] program,[7][8] the President's Frontier Award program,[9] and the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships,[10] which were established as part of a $350 million gift by Michael Bloomberg.[11][12][13]

Biography

Denis Wirtz was born in the Ixelles municipality of Brussels, Belgium. He is fluent in English and French, and became a U.S. citizen in 2007. Wirtz earned a Physics Engineering degree at the Ecole Polytechnique of the Université libre de Bruxelles in 1988. With a Hoover Fellowship from the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF),[14] he earned an M.S. and Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University, working under the guidance of Gerald G. Fuller in polymer physics. He was then granted a fellowship through the European Union’s Human Capital and Mobility program to conduct postdoctoral research with 1991 Nobel Laureate in Physics Pierre-Gilles de Gennes at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI) in Paris, France.[15] He joined the faculty of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in 1994 and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 2003. In 2009, he was selected to be the Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor of Engineering Science by President Ronald J. Daniels and the Board of Trustees,[16] with secondary appointments in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering,[17] Pathology and Oncology, where he collaborates with fellow researchers in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.[18][19]

Upon his appointment as the Theophilius Halley Smoot Professor of Engineering Physics by President Ronald J. Daniels and the Board of Trustees,[20][21] Dr. Nicholas Jones, former dean of the Whiting School of Engineering, stated, “Throughout his time at Johns Hopkins, Denis has distinguished himself as an outstanding scholar and teacher. Additionally, Denis’ role as a catalyst for interdisciplinary research and collaboration at the university has proven extremely effective, both in terms of the research he conducts and the support he has attracted over the years. I am confident that his current research into the physical basis for cell adhesion and de-adhesion will prove critical to our understanding of the metastasis of cancer and enable important breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the years to come.”[22]

In February 2014, Wirtz was named the Vice Provost for Research at Johns Hopkins University. In announcing the Wirtz’s appointment, Provost Robert C. Lieberman stated, "As is obvious to all who know him, Denis is an extremely productive and accomplished faculty member and a wonderful colleague. Those traits will serve both Denis and the university as he works with me to support important multidisciplinary research projects, including the strategic initiatives identified in the campaign, the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships, and multidivisional proposals in response to RFAs (requests for applications).”[23]

Leadership

In his role as Vice Provost for Research, Wirtz has recruited nearly two dozen world-renowned faculty from around the world to join Johns Hopkins University as Bloomberg Distinguished Professors,[24] managed the inaugural year of the Catalyst and Discovery Awards,[25][26][27] and the first two President’s Frontier Awards, which were bestowed upon Dr. Sharon Gerecht in 2015[28] and Dr. Scott Bailey in 2016.[29] He has expanded the university’s research development efforts, creating a weekly digest of limited submission opportunities,[30] a list of more than 175 funding opportunities for postdoctoral researchers,[31] a list of more than 330 funding opportunities for early career faculty,[32] and consolidated monthly digests of internal funding opportunities at the institution.[33] He also consolidated multiple research administration offices into a central research administration team, Johns Hopkins University Research Administration.[34] As director of the university's Signature Initiatives, he has overseen the launch of two new signature initiatives on big data, led by Alex Szalay,[35] and space studies, Space@Hopkins, led by Charles L. Bennett.[36] These are in addition to Kathryn Edin’s 21st Century Cities Initiative, Barbara Landau’s Science of Learning Institute, Scott Zeger’s Individualized Health Initiative, and David Peters’ Global Health Signature Initiative.[37]

Wirtz also directs the Johns Hopkins Physical Sciences-Oncology Center (PSOC),[38] also known as the Johns Hopkins Engineering in Oncology Center, which is part of a network of twelve centers in the United States funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute to link the physical sciences with the study of cancer.[39] When the center was established with a $14.8M grant in 2009, Wirtz stated, “For too long, not enough room has been made for nonconventional and nonbiological concepts borrowed from modern physics and engineering to tackle this disease. It is time to bring to the table ideas grounded in chemical and biomolecular engineering principles to develop new therapies and diagnostic tools. [The National Cancer Institute has] given us major funding for a center to study all the steps in the metastatic cascade.”[40] Wirtz’s fellow project leaders include Drs. Sharon Gerecht and Konstantinos Konstantopoulos.

The PSOC is part of the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT), which Wirtz co-founded and acts as associate director. INBT was launched in 2006 with support from U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski to “promote multidisciplinary research at the interface of nanotechnology and medicine.”[41] With more than 250 affiliated faculty members from the Johns Hopkins schools of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Medicine, and Public Health and scientists from the Applied Physics Laboratory, the institute is home to several center grants and numerous education, training, and outreach programs. INBT counts Becton Dickinson, MedImmune, Northrop Grumman, Secant Medical, and Under Armour among its corporate partners, and Wirtz has previously served as a Nikon Partner in Science since 2008.[42]

Wirtz is the PI of a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site in the Nanotechnology for Biology and Bioengineering program.[43][44] Wirtz also founded the Johns Hopkins Center for Digital Pathology that brings together pathologists, surgeons, oncologists, and engineers to develop new single-cell technology for improved diagnostic, prognostic, therapeutic approaches for human diseases, including cancer, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and frailty in aging.[45] He co-directs the Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center,[46] another National Cancer Institute-funded entity. From 2005-2012, he also directed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) funded interdisciplinary graduate research training program in nanotechnology for biology and medicine. The program aimed to produce researchers able to create new particles and materials to be used in the detection, treatment, prevention, and cure of human disease. It recruited students from biochemistry, chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering, while making a special effort to include minorities under-represented in science.[47]

Awards and Distinctions

Denis Wirtz was elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2006 for “major contributions in molecular cell mechanics and the development of particle tracking methods for cell and molecular biology.”[48] In 2009, he was elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2009 “for contributions to cell micromechanics and cell adhesion and for the development and application of particle tracking methods to probe the micromechanical properties of living cells in normal conditions and disease state.”[49][50] Wirtz was elected fellow of the American Physical Society in 2010 for “his seminal contributions to the understanding of basic cellular functions through the development and application of novel biophysical methods grounded in statistical mechanics and polymer physics.”[51] In 2011, he was elected member of the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF).[52]

Wirtz is also a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers[53] Biophysical Society, American Society of Microbiology, American Society for Cell Biology, American Society for Microbiology, and Society of Rheology.

He is a 1996 recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award for: “A Research and Teaching Program in Complex Fluids Dynamics.”.[54] In 1997, he received the Whitaker Foundation’s Biomedical Engineering Award.[55][56] In collaboration with Benjamin Shapiro, Elisabeth Smela and Pamela Ann Abshire, Wirtz was awarded the 2004 Physical Science Invention of the Year Award by the University of Maryland Office of Technology Commercialization. The team invented a Cell Sensor Based Pathogen Detection that will enable “selective pathogran detection by exploiting the signalizing machinery of living cells.[57]

Since 2008, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of Cell Health and the Cytoskeleton.[58] He is on the Editorial Boards of Scientific Reports, Cell Adhesion & Migration,[59] World Journal of Biological Chemistry,[60] and TECHNOLOGY.[61] Wirtz formerly served on the editorial boards of Physical Biology, Journal of the Royal Society Interface Focus, Biophysical Journal,[62] Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, as an ad hoc editor for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, as the guest editor of a Special Issue of Physical Biology on physical oncology,[63] and as the editor of the Cell Biophysics section of Comprehensive Biophysics.[64][65] Wirtz also served as an expert advisor to the study panel of the international Assessment of Physical sciences and Engineering advances in Life sciences and Oncology (APHELION), which was commissioned by the National Cancer Institute and National Science Foundation in order to “determine the status and trends of applying physical sciences and engineering principles to oncology research and development in leading laboratories and organizations in Europe via an on-site peer review process.”[66]

Recent plenary talks include: ASME 2015 4th Global Congress on NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology;[67][68] 2015 Cell Mechanics, Morphogenesis and Pattern Formation Workshop, Isaac Newton Institute at the University of Cambridge;[69] 2015 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit;[70] 2015 American Society for Cell Biology Cell Biology Annual Meeting;[71] 2014 Longrifles Cancer Seminar, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine;[72] and 2014 IUTAM Symposium on Mechanics of Soft Active Materials; 2013 The Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) annual conference in Coimbra, Portugal;[73] distinguished lecturer at the Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center, University of Kentucky.[74]

Research

Bridging the fields of chemical engineering, oncology, pathology, biophysics, and materials science, Wirtz’s research focuses on the biophysical properties of healthy and diseased cells, including interactions between adjacent cells and the role of cellular architecture on nuclear shape and gene expression.[75] His research interests include cell biophysics, aging, tumor microenvironment, digital pathology, the actin cap, single molecule manipulation, intracellular particle trafficking, instrument development, tissue engineering, and nanotechnology in biology and medicine.[76] He has made important contributions to molecular and biophysical mechanisms of cell motility and adhesion and nuclear dynamics in health and disease, and he pioneered the method of particle-tracking microrheology to probe the rheological properties of complex fluids and living cells and tissues.[77]

Wirtz currently holds several patents on his work.[78]

2D vs. 3D cell migration

Wirtz’s lab identified fundamental differences between conventional 2D migration and more physiologically relevant 3D migration in cancer cells, creating new understanding of the tumor microenvironment and metastasis. In particular, they found that the nucleus, focal adhesion molecules, the lamina, LINC complexes, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) play a central role in 3D migration (migration in 3D collagen-rich matrices) that is not predicted or extrapolated from the better known 2D case (use of a Petri dish). Supporting Publications:

Cell and Nuclear Mechanics

Wirtz developed novel tools and concepts to study the role of nucleus and nuclear connections to the cytoskeleton and key cell functions, including 2D and 3D cell migration and adhesion, mechanosensation, and mechanotransduction. In particular, he identified LINC complexes and the so-called perinuclear actin cap as key mediators of physical signaling between the cytoplasm and the nuclear interior. More recently, he discovered that the nuclear lamina of adherent cells is polarized through the actin cap, which in turn polarizes hyper-acetylated forms of histones in the nucleus. Supporting Publications:

Single-molecule Adhesion Nanomechanics

Using single-molecule force spectroscopy, his lab showed how intracellular molecules such as a-catenin and b-catenin modulate cell-cell adhesion mediated by E-cadherin. Supporting Publications:

Publications

Wirtz has published nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles published in top journals including Science, Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Methods, Nature Reviews Cancer, Nature Materials, Nature Protocols, PNAS, Nature Communications, and Journal of Cell Biology. He has an h-index of 65.[79]

Highly Cited Articles[80]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Keiger, Dale.“Moving cancer research out of the Petri dish and into the third dimension” Johns Hopkins Magazine, Baltimore, 1 January 2013. Retrieved on 28 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Reddit Cancer AMA". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  3. ↑ "Denis Wirtz Profile Page". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  4. ↑ O’Shea, Dennis “Johns Hopkins leads U.S. in research spending for 36th year in a row”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 9 December 2015. Retrieved on 27 March 2016.
  5. ↑ National Science Foundation “Higher Education Research and Development Survey: Higher education R&D expenditures, ranked by FY 2014 R&D expenditures” National Science Foundation, Arlington, 31 July 2015. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Denis Wirtz Vice Provost for Research".
  7. ↑ Hub Staff “Johns Hopkins scholars, leaders celebrate faculty research awards”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 4 September 2015. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Sneiderman, Phil “New Johns Hopkins awards to provide $15 million to support faculty-led research”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 27 January 2015. Retrieved on 27 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Johns Hopkins biologist Scott Bailey receives $250,000 President's Frontier Award".
  10. ↑ Brooks, Kelly "Johns Hopkins names four new Bloomberg Distinguished Professors", JHU Hub, Baltimore, 30 March 2015. Retrieved on 27 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Office of Communications Staff Report “Michael R. Bloomberg commits $350 million to Johns Hopkins for transformational academic initiative”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 26 January 2013. Retrieved on 27 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Nick. "Bloomberg pledges $350 million to Johns Hopkins University", The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., 23 January 2013. Retrieved on 12 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Barbaro, Michael. "$1.1 Billion in Thanks From Bloomberg to Johns Hopkins", The New York Times, New York, 26 January 2013. Retrieved on 1 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "BAEF Fellowships: Alumni 1980-1989". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  15. ↑ "Distinguished Lecturer – Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  16. ↑ "Chemical and biomolecular engineer Denis Wirtz named Smoot professor". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  17. ↑ "Materials Science & Engineering: Associated Faculty". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  18. ↑ "Faculty: Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  19. ↑ "The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center: Laboratory Scientists". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  20. ↑ "Chemical and biomolecular engineer Denis Wirtz named Smoot professor". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  21. ↑ "Theophilus Halley Smoot Professorship in Engineering: Established in 1981 by the estate of Theophilus H. Smoot".
  22. ↑ "Chemical and biomolecular engineer Denis Wirtz named Smoot professor". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  23. ↑ "Denis Wirtz named vice provost for research".
  24. ↑ "Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships".
  25. ↑ "Wirtz relishes new role as vice provost for research" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  26. ↑ Hub Staff “Johns Hopkins Discovery Awards given to 23 cross-divisional research teams”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 6 July 2015. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  27. ↑ Hub Staff “Catalyst Awards granted to 37 early-career Johns Hopkins researchers”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 25 June 2015. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  28. ↑ Spiro, Mary “Johns Hopkins stem cell researcher Sharon Gerecht receives inaugural President's Frontier Award”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 28 January 2015. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  29. ↑ "Johns Hopkins biologist Scott Bailey receives $250,000 President's Frontier Award".
  30. ↑ "Limited Submissions at Johns Hopkins University". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  31. ↑ "Post-doctoral Funding Opportunities". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  32. ↑ "Early Career Funding Opportunities". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  33. ↑ "Internal Funding Opportunities". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  34. ↑ "Johns Hopkins University Research Administration". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  35. ↑ "Institute of Data Intensive Engineering and Science (IDIES)". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  36. ↑ "JHU's Charles Bennett and Andrew Feinberg named Bloomberg Distinguished Professors". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  37. ↑ "Signature Initiatives". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  38. ↑ Gebel, Erika “Engineers Join Fight Against Cancer”, ChemBE BOND, Baltimore, Fall 2009. Retrieved on 28 March 2016
  39. ↑ Cofield, Calla (June 2010). "Cell is Mechanical Device". APS News. American Physical Society. 19 (6). Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  40. ↑ Gebel, Erika “Engineers Join Fight Against Cancer”, ChemBE BOND, Baltimore, Fall 2009. Retrieved on 28 March 2016
  41. ↑ Spiro, Mary “Institute for NanoBioTechnology adds two to leadership team”, HUB at Work, Baltimore, 20 November 2010. Retrieved on 28 March 2016.
  42. ↑ "INBT Corporate Partnerships Program". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  43. ↑ "Award Abstract #1460716: REU Site: Program in Nanotechnology for Biology and Bioengineering". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  44. ↑ "National Science Foundation REU Sites". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  45. ↑ "Center for Digital Pathology". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  46. ↑ "Cancer Nanotechnology Training Centers (CNTCs)". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  47. ↑ "HHMI Awards $10 Million for Interdisciplinary Graduate Education". Retrieved 2016-03-26.
  48. ↑ "Denis Wirtz, Ph.D. AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2006". Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  49. ↑ Parsons, Tim “Seven Johns Hopkins Researchers Named AAAS Fellows”, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, 19 December 2009. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  50. ↑ Spiro, Mary “INBT, EOC directors named AAAS 2009 Fellows”, Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Baltimore, 21 December 2009. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  51. ↑ American Physical Society “APS Fellow Archive”, American Physical Society, Washington DC, 31 December 2010. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  52. ↑ "Belgian American Educational Foundation BAEF Members". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  53. ↑ "AIChE Community: Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  54. ↑ National Science Foundation. “Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Awards (FY 1996)”, National Science Foundation, Arlington, 31 December 1996. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  55. ↑ "Chemical and biomolecular engineer Denis Wirtz named Smoot professor". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  56. ↑ Spiro, Mary “Johns Hopkins stem cell researcher Sharon Gerecht receives inaugural President's Frontier Award”, JHU Hub, Baltimore, 28 January 2015. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  57. ↑ "Faculty & Students Win Invention, Business Plan Awards". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  58. ↑ "Cell Health and Cytoskeleton, Editor-in-Chief: Professor Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  59. ↑ "Cell Adhesion & Migration: Editorial Board". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  60. ↑ "World Journal of Biological Chemistry: Members of the Editorial Board". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  61. ↑ "TECHNOLOGY: Editorial Board". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  62. ↑ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering “Faculty Awards”, ChemBE BOND, Baltimore, Fall 2009. Retrieved on 28 March 2016
  63. ↑ Lee, Jerry and Denis Wirtz “Preface: Physical oncology”, Physical Biology, United Kingdom, 1 August 2011. Retrieved on 28 March 2016.
  64. ↑ "Comprehensive Biophysics". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  65. ↑ "Comprehensive Biophysics". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  66. ↑ "Final Report Assessment of Physical sciences and Engineering advances in Life sciences and Oncology (APHELION) Europe Study". Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  67. ↑ "The ASME 2015 4th Global Congress on NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  68. ↑ "Bad kids or bad neighborhood? How cells turn rogue, escape incarceration, and become a cancer upon their surroundings.". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  69. ↑ "Cell Mechanics, Morphogenesis and Pattern Formation: perspectives from the experimental and theoretical points of view". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  70. ↑ "2015 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  71. ↑ "The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Invasive Metastatic Cancer" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  72. ↑ "Longrifles Cancer Seminar in Baltimore". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  73. ↑ "CNC Keynote Speaker: Engineering approaches to molecular cell biology". Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  74. ↑ "Distinguished Lecturer – Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  75. ↑ "Faculty: Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  76. ↑ "Wirtz Lab". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  77. ↑ "Distinguished Lecturer – Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  78. ↑ "Patents by Inventor Denis Wirtz". Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  79. ↑ Google Scholar "Author: Denis Wirtz", Google Scholar, 25 March 2016. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.
  80. ↑ Google Scholar "Author: Denis Wirtz", Google Scholar, 25 March 2016. Retrieved on 25 March 2016.

External links

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