The Council of Vilnius University Life Sciences Center has elected Prof. Dr Daumantas Matulis as the new Director of the Centre.
He is the Head of the Biothermodynamics and Drug Discovery Unit at the Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC).
‘I thank the Council for its confidence. It will be a big challenge for me to ensure that the achievements of our Centre continue to improve at the same pace. Our community is strong and ambitious, and together we can do a lot,’ said the Director-elect, introducing himself to the VU LSC community and thanking the current head of the VU LSC, Prof. Dr Gintaras Valinčius, for the work he has done.
Prof. D. Matulis expressed his delight that VU LSC scientists are able to compare their achievements and scientific papers with those of the most known universities while having many times less small budget.
He invited the VU LSC community to remain focused not only on achieving common goals, but also on overcoming external challenges, such as the war in Ukraine.
‘Let us support each other and understand that we will have to deal with challenges that might not be able to influence,’ said the Director-elect.
Prof. D. Matulis was born in 1970 in Vilnius, graduated from Vilnius University in 1993 with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Biochemistry, and completed his PhD in 1998 at the University of Minnesota, USA, where he became a postdoctoral fellow in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.
Since 2001, D. Matulis has worked for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, a drug development company in the USA. In 2005, he returned to Lithuania and headed the Biothermodynamics and Drug Discovery Unit at the Institute of Biochemistry, VU LSC.
Prof. D. Matulis is the President of the Lithuanian Society of Biochemists and a member of several other societies. He has been awarded the Lithuanian Science Prize, international awards in foreign countries, has published over 150 scientific publications, and patented a number of inventions.