prof.dr. Kees Vink

Prof. dr. Kees Vink obtained his MSc degree in Biology (specialization Biochemistry) from the University of Leiden in 1989. He then performed his PhD studies (1989-1993) at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI/AVL) in Amsterdam, where his research focussed on the molecular interaction between the AIDS virus and its human host. In the following years, Kees worked as a postdoc at the NKI/AVL and, subsequently, as assistant professor and associate professor at the Maastricht University Medical Center, where he was involved in teaching (at the Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences) as well as in studies related to the molecular biology of various viral and bacterial pathogens. In 2006, Kees became Head of the Laboratory of Pediatrics at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. In this position, he was involved in the educational program of the Research Master ‘Infection and Immunity’ and performed research on the molecular characteristics of respiratory tract pathogen *Mycoplasma pneumoniae*. On September 1, 2013, he joined Erasmus University College (EUC) as Head of Department Life Sciences. Starting November 1, 2020, he was appointed as Network Chair '*From Big Natural History to Urban Ecology*', a collaboration between Erasmus University and the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. His fields of interest are: * Biochemistry * Molecular (micro)biology * Evolutionary biology * Urban Ecology