Research output per year
Research output per year
Blegdamsvej 3, 2200 København N., 06 Bygning 6, 06-1-30
Blegdamsvej 3B
2200 København N
Research activity per year
Guillermo Montoya
Current position
Jan. 2014–:
Professor and research director, Protein Structure & Function Program, CPR, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Previous positions
2008–2015:
Group leader, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Madrid, Spain
2003–2006:
Acting director, Structural Biology Program, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Madrid, Spain
2000–2002:
Research associate, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Heidelberg, Germany
1994–1999:
EMBO & Marie Curie fellow, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
1998:
Investigator, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), on leave at EMBL Heidelberg, Germany
1993–1994:
EMBO & FEBS fellow, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Education
1989–1993:
PhD in Chemistry, University of Zaragoza, Spain.
Thesis title: Characterization of sugar beet photosystem II reaction center using LASER picosecond flash photolysis spectroscopy
1984–1989:
MSc in Biochemistry, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain
Research awards
2018:
Elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
2016–:
Chairman of ISBUC, the Integrative Structural Biology Cluster at UCPH
2009:
Spanish National Prize in Biomedicine from the Fundación Mutua Madrileña
V Health Sciences Prize from Caja Rural de Granada-Ministerio de Sanidad
Mar. 2000:
Peter und Traudl Engelhorn Foundation Fellowship
Mar. 1997:
Postdoctoral fellowship of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science
Feb. 1995:
Marie Curie Fellowship of Human Capital and Mobility Program of the European commission
1994:
EMBO long-term fellowship, funded directly for 2 years due to being placed second in the Feb. 1994 evaluation
1993:
EMBO short-term fellowship, Frankfurt am Main
1993:
FEBS short-term fellowship, Frankfurt am Main
Spanish National Prize in Biomedicine from the Fundación Mutua Madrileña
Professor Guillermo Montoya is Research Director and Group Leader at the Protein Structure and Function program at Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR) at University of Copenhagen.
Guillermo Montoya’s research aims to understand basic cellular mechanisms at the atomic level, and he firmly believes that the detailed unravelling of these mechanisms will be essential for future biomedical research.
The approach of the Montoya Group is to use advanced methodology, combining X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy with cell biology to study the structure and function of macromolecules involved in cell cycle progression, genome integrity and its manipulation.
Key discoveries
Montoya solved the first crystal structure of the 1 MDa TRiC/CCT chaperonin in complex with tubulin, shedding light on the folding mechanism that is essential for cell cycle progression and chromosome segregation. His group has recently provided molecular evidence of how key guardians of genome integrity such as the kinase TLK2 or the XMAP215 microtubule polymerase work to protect the genome and provide faithful cell division.
Montoya is also systematically pursuing the structure-function analysis of endonucleases, which are of great interest because of their applications in genome editing. His seminal work in homing endonucleases has shown that these proteins were amenable of redesign in order to target mutations in human monogenic diseases.
His studies elucidating the structure of CRISPR-Cas12a interference ribonucleoprotein have unveiled the mechanism of recognition, unzipping and catalytic activation in order to cleavage target DNA. This finding has opened new avenues in genome modification for biomedicine and biotechnology.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review › Research › peer-review