Peter J. Peters
{{short description|Dutch academic}}
Peter J. Peters (born 22 August 1957) is a professor of nanobiology and a distinguished university professor at Maastricht University. Peters is best known for his work in electron microscopy (EM) and cellular immunology. He is the founder and director of the Institute of Nanoscopy.{{cite web|url=https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/distinguished-university-professors |accessdate=7 November 2021 |title=Distinguished university professors |publisher=Maastricht University}}
Early life and education
Peters was born in Hunsel, the Netherlands in 1957.{{cite web|url=https://www.structuralbiology.eu/news/top-nanobiologist-peter-peters-to-maastricht-university/ |accessdate=16 August 2018 |title=Top nanobiologist Peter Peters to Maastricht University |publisher=Instruct Integrating Biology}} The eldest of six children, he often accompanied his father—a farmer—on errands. On one such visit to a local artificial insemination station, Peters discovered a keen interest in science.
Peters obtained his PhD in 1991 from Utrecht University.{{cite web|url=http://english.ibp.cas.cn/ns/es/201607/t20160707_165428.html |accessdate=16 August 2018 |title=Prof. Peter J. Peters from Maastricht University of the Netherlands made a BEI Shinzhang Lecutre |publisher=Chinese Academy of Sciences |date=July 2016}} His PhD thesis, "Cellular immunology at the subcellular level", was completed under the guidance of Hans Geuze, Jannie Borst, and Hidde Ploegh. During this time, he studied the ultrastructure and trafficking of MHC class II molecules,{{Cite journal|last1=Peters|first1=Peter J.|last2=Neefjes|first2=Jacques J.|last3=Oorschot|first3=Viola|last4=Ploegh|first4=Hidde L.|last5=Geuze|first5=Hans J.|date=1991|title=Segregation of MHC class II molecules from MHC class I molecules in the Golgi complex for transport to lysosomal compartments|journal=Nature|language=En|volume=349|issue=6311|pages=669–676|doi=10.1038/349669a0|pmid=1847504|s2cid=4242062|issn=1476-4687}}{{Cite journal|last1=Peters|first1=P. J.|last2=Raposo|first2=G.|last3=Neefjes|first3=J. J.|last4=Oorschot|first4=V.|last5=Leijendekker|first5=R. L.|last6=Geuze|first6=H. J.|last7=Ploegh|first7=H. L.|date=1995-08-01|title=Major histocompatibility complex class II compartments in human B lymphoblastoid cells are distinct from early endosomes.|journal=Journal of Experimental Medicine|language=en|volume=182|issue=2|pages=325–334|doi=10.1084/jem.182.2.325|issn=0022-1007|pmid=7629497|pmc=2192145}} as well as how the role of secretory granules in T-cell function.{{Cite journal|last1=Peters|first1=P. J.|last2=Borst|first2=J.|last3=Oorschot|first3=V.|last4=Fukuda|first4=M.|last5=Krähenbühl|first5=O.|last6=Tschopp|first6=J.|last7=Slot|first7=J. W.|last8=Geuze|first8=H. J.|date=1991-05-01|title=Cytotoxic T lymphocyte granules are secretory lysosomes, containing both perforin and granzymes.|journal=Journal of Experimental Medicine|language=en|volume=173|issue=5|pages=1099–1109|doi=10.1084/jem.173.5.1099|issn=0022-1007|pmid=2022921|pmc=2118839}} Following his PhD, Peters completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in the laboratory of Richard Klausner, where he studied the regulation of endocytosis.{{cite web|url=https://www.nki.nl/people/peters-prof-dr-p/ |accessdate=16 August 2018 |title=Peter Peters Group |publisher=Netherlands Cancer Institute}}{{Cite journal|last1=Peters|first1=P. J.|last2=Hsu|first2=V. W.|last3=Ooi|first3=C. E.|last4=Finazzi|first4=D.|last5=Teal|first5=S. B.|last6=Oorschot|first6=V.|last7=Donaldson|first7=J. G.|last8=Klausner|first8=R. D.|date=1995-03-15|title=Overexpression of wild-type and mutant ARF1 and ARF6: distinct perturbations of nonoverlapping membrane compartments.|journal=J Cell Biol|language=en|volume=128|issue=6|pages=1003–1017|doi=10.1083/jcb.128.6.1003|issn=0021-9525|pmid=7896867|pmc=2120412}}
Career
From 1994 to 1998, Peters worked at Utrecht University. He then moved on to the Netherlands Cancer Institute, where he worked from 1998 to 2013. There his group focused on sorting within the eukaryotic cell endomembrane system, primarily using cryo immunogold-electron microscopy.{{Cite journal|last1=van der Wel|first1=Nicole|last2=Hava|first2=David|last3=Houben|first3=Diane|last4=Fluitsma|first4=Donna|last5=Zon|first5=Maaike van|last6=Pierson|first6=Jason|last7=Brenner|first7=Michael|last8=Peters|first8=Peter J.|title=M. tuberculosis and M. leprae Translocate from the Phagolysosome to the Cytosol in Myeloid Cells|journal=Cell|volume=129|issue=7|pages=1287–1298|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2007.05.059|pmid=17604718|year=2007|doi-access=free}} In 2014, Peters was appointed professor of nanobiology and co-director of the Maastricht Multimodal Molecular Imaging Institute at Maastricht University.
Since 1988, Peters has collaborated with Hans Clevers, working to establish human tissue organoids from stem cells in order to study the origin and mechanism of cancer and infection.
Peters’s current research goal is to devise a way of doing cryo-electron tomography in order to give a 3D view of a cell’s internal structure. His research group under M4I’s Division of Nanoscopy studies the 3D structure of an important component of the nanomachinery in bacteria causing tuberculosis.
Other professional activities
Peters hold patents for three inventions, with a fourth filed and pending. One of his innovations resulted in a commercial product used in EM, currently sold by Leica Microsystems.
Peters is a member of the American Society of Cell Biology and the European Society of Microscopy. In 2016, he was elected to the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.acti-nl.org/en/bestuur-en-leden|title = Bestuur en leden – AcTI}} He has frequently chaired international conferences and symposia, most recently the 19th International Microscopy Conference in Sydney, Australia in 2018.{{Cite web|url=http://imc19.com/chairpersons/|title=19th International Microscopy Congress (IMC19)}}
Peters founded the Netherlands Postdoc Career Development Initiative (PDCI) in 1998 and served as its dean until 2002. PDCI was highlighted in the international press, in Cell,{{Cite journal|last=Aschwanden|first=Christie|author-link=Christie Aschwanden |title=Professionalizing the Postdoctoral Experience|journal=Cell|volume=124|issue=3|pages=445–447|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2006.01.025|pmid=16469686|year=2006|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Aschwanden|first=Christie|title=Learning to Lead|journal=Cell|volume=125|issue=3|pages=407–409|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2006.04.017|pmid=16678082|year=2006|doi-access=free}} The Scientist,{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/26148/title/Best-Places-to-Work-2008--Postdocs/|title=Best Places to Work 2008: Postdocs|website=The Scientist|access-date=2018-01-23}} and Nature.{{Cite journal|last=Griekspoor|first=Alexander|date=2007-02-21|title=Torn between two ladders|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=445|issue=7130|pages=948|doi=10.1038/nj7130-948b|doi-access=free}} Peters was editor of the journal Microscopy (formerly the Journal of Electron Microscopy) from 2008 to 2012.
In 2009, Peters was invited by the Society of Histochemistry to deliver the Robert Feulgen lecture.{{cite web|url=http://www.histochemistry.eu/index.php?page=feulgen_lectures |accessdate=16 August 2018 |title=Robert Feulgen Lectures |publisher=Society for Histochemistry}}
In 2010–2011, Peters led the initiative and coordinated the establishment of the Netherlands Centre for Electron Nanoscopy, a Dutch national research infrastructure.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}
Publications
Peters has published over 125 papers that have been cited over 24,000 times.{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1v5vVfgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao|title=PJ Peters citations|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} His Hirsch index is 69.
References
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Peter J.}}