Alex Thomsen PhD

Alex R.B. Thomsen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Pathobiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Pharmacology at New York University, and holds B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The majority of Alex’s research has been focused on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and how this family of cell membrane proteins can be used as drug targets to treat a variety of diseases. Alex has performed research in several world-leading laboratories including Dr. Edward M. Brown’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School and Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz’s laboratory at Duke University Medical Center. During his postdoctoral training in the Lefkowitz Lab, Alex discovered a new mechanism of how some GPCRs continue to signal after they have been internalized into endosomes, which was published in the scientific journals Cell, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, and PNAS. Before coming to New York University, Alex was an Assistant Professor at Columbia University Medical Center where he initiated his laboratory that studies endosomal GPCR signaling from multiple perspectives. During his short career, Alex has been the recipient of substantial grant awards and prizes including the Sapere Aude: Young Elite Researcher Prize.