Henrik Clausen

Henrik Clausen is a Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. He leads the Copenhagen Center for Glycomics and is actively engaged in developing innovative technologies to advance the field of glycomics. His work focuses on transforming glycosciences from a specialist field into a mainstream 'Omics' discipline comparable to genomics and proteomics.

Dr. Clausen earned his DDS in 1981 and Dr.odont (D.Sc.) in 1990, both from the School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. His academic journey includes positions at the University of Washington in Seattle and the Biomembrane Institute, before returning to Copenhagen where he became Professor at the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Medicine in 2005.

His primary research focuses on glycans that coat proteins in nature, with particular expertise in blood type conversion (transforming blood types A, B, and AB to blood type O) and cancer biomarkers. Through projects like GlycoDisplay, GlycoCRISPR, GlycoDesign, and GlycoView, his laboratory develops tools and community resources to make glycoscience more accessible to non-specialists. His current research includes a Lundbeck Foundation-funded program (2017-19) to develop a cell-based platform displaying all human glycans for high-throughput screening.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on glycan-protein interactions, particularly in cancer and infectious disease contexts. His work spans structural biology, enzymology, and cell signaling, with applications in immunology, virology, and oncology. The research demonstrates how glycosylation affects receptor function, cell signaling, and pathogen-host interactions, with significant implications for therapeutic development.

• The Benzow Prize (1994)
• The Thureus Prize (1998)
• Mizutani Prize (1999)
• The Carlsberg Biotechnology Prize (2008)

Professor Clausen serves on the editorial boards of Glycoconjugate Journal (since 1995) and Journal of Biological Chemistry (since 2004). He has organized numerous international conferences including Benzon Symposia, Nordic Glycobiology Symposia, and International Glycosyltransferase Symposia. His industry collaborations include advisory roles at Aptein Inc, Neose Inc, ZymeQuest Inc, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

He directs the Copenhagen Center for Glycomics, which develops extensive glycopeptide libraries representing cancer-associated glycoforms of membrane glycoproteins. These libraries are printed on microarray slides to detect antibodies against cancer antigens in patient samples, with the goal of identifying autoantibody signatures as sensitive and specific cancer markers.