Frank H. J. Schuren PhD

Frank Schuren received his Ph.D. at Groningen University in 1987 on the molecular biological analysis of fungal development. After a postdoc on genetic transformation systems in filamentous fungi at the same University and a postdoc at the ETH Zurich in Switzerland he joined TNO in 1996. At TNO he started the implementation of microarray technology in applied research. Together with his colleague Roy Montijn he developed a number of new microarray-based technologies which are successfully implemented in applied microbial research. Novel diagnostic tools enable the discrimination between closely related bacterial strains (such as the Legionella chip) and the analysis of complex microbial populations (such as the intestinal microbiota). Tools for analyzing the immediate responses of microbes or microbial populations towards multiple stressors have also been developed. These tools allow for generating predictive models of behavior of microbes. Furthermore Frank has extensive experience with different approaches for combatting unwanted and pathogenic micro-organisms including phage applications.