Professor Dr Kai Simons

Research Priorities: Cell membrane, cellular polarity, intracellular transport of proteins and lipids, lipid rafts concept, interaction between viruses and cell membranes
Kai Simons is a Finnish doctor and biochemist who gained public acclaim for his research on cell membranes and viruses. His most important innovation was the development of the lipid raft concept.
To simplify the experimental challenge at the start of his long career, he introduced the envelope of Semliki Forest virus as the simplest bio membrane known as his experimental model. He shed light on how the virus gets into and out of its host cell, elucidating for the first time the life cycle of a membrane virus. He also developed an efficient protein subunit vaccine against Semliki Forest virus infection. Novavax used the same principles to design a protein vaccine against SARS-Cov-2 infections that worked as well as the RNA vaccines.
Next Simons tackled cell polarization to study how epithelial cell generate their asymmetric structure. He again used enveloped viruses as a tool to elucidate the epithelial membrane traffic system that generates the asymmetric cellular organisation. The highlight of these studies was the discovery of the lipid raft nanodomain concept, a general principle of cell membrane organisation that endows cholesterol-containing membranes with unique dynamic properties that provides the basis for many membrane functions. Several enveloped viruses such as influenza, HIV, measles and Ebola use lipid rafts to exit from its host sell to initial their infectious life cycle. Kai Simons built up the Cell Biology Programme at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and was the founding director of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden. Based on his lipid research, Simons also founded Lipotype GmbH in Dresden. Lipotype developed a unique mass spectrometric platform to analyse lipids in tissues and body fluids.
Kai Simons is now well-known for creating research environments where multidisciplinary research is facilitated by a cooperative atmosphere, supporting young researchers and generating innovation. He is a keen European through his activities not only at EMBL, but also in EMBO, ELSO and EU. Kai Simons summarized his life in research in his recent book “The Magic of the Collective” (2024) to inspire young researchers.