MPI group leader appointed to University of Münste

The MPI congratulates Peter 't Hart on his professorship in molecular biochemistry at the University of Münster

Peter 't Hart, former group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology (MPI) in Dortmund, has been appointed to the University of Münster. After seven successful years as an independent research group leader and recipient of the prestigious ERC Grant, he will continue his search for medically relevant substances for protein-RNA interactions.

Peter ’t Hart studied drug innovation at the Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences where he also finished his doctoral studies. During his Postdoc in the Department of Prof. Herbert Waldmann at the MPI in Dortmund he developed cyclic peptide inhibitors of protein complexes involved in epigenetic regulation. Since 2018 he is group leader at the Chemical Genomics Centre of the Max Planck Society.

During his time as an independent research group leader at the Chemical Genomics Centre at MPI Dortmund 't Hart conducted research into RNA drugs. This led to the development of the first mRNA-stabilising substance. This substance is capable of extending the lifespan of health-promoting messenger RNA and thus offers a promising starting point for the development of innovative mRNA-based therapeutics.

In Münster, Peter will continue the search for stabilizing ligands for protein-RNA interactions with his new group. At the same time, he also plans to apply generative AI models for protein design to develop new modulators of RNA processing. Both strategies are meant to provide tools to further study how RNA is regulated in both health and disease.

‘My time at the MPI in Dortmund has laid a very strong foundation for this next step in my career and I couldn't have done it without the excellent support of the institute,’ says Peter ’t Hart.