Jan Ellenberg

Jan Ellenberg is distinguished for many contributions to the cell biology and imaging field. The majority of these were made at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) as Senior Scientist and Head of the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit. Today, Jan Ellenberg is Director of the Swedish national research infrastructure, SciLifeLab. His major research contributions cover several aspects of the cell division cycle and nuclear organization, including systematic analysis of mitosis, nuclear pore complex structure and assembly, as well as chromatin organization and formation and segregation of mitotic and meiotic chromosomes. 

His goal has been to obtain structural and functional measures of the required molecular machinery inside cells using quantitative 4D imaging, single molecule spectroscopy, as well as light sheet and super-resolution microscopy, and recently launched Alpha Cell, that aims to use artificial intelligence and spatial and temporal molecular data to create a predictive model for core functions of human cells and tissue.

Jan Ellenberg's research centers on understanding the intricate dynamics of cell division and nuclear organization, particularly within the context of human disease and development. Utilizing advanced microscopy and live-cell imaging techniques, his team investigates the functional and structural changes of chromosomes and the nuclear envelope during mitosis. His work also delves into the development of new imaging technologies and computational models to study cellular processes molecularly at scale and understand their implications in cancer and fertility disorders.