Mads Albertsen

Mads Albertsen is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Life Sciences at the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Aalborg University, Denmark. He leads the Albertsen Lab and is a key member of the Center for Microbial Communities. His research focuses on high-throughput DNA sequencing methods to explore uncultivated microbes and populate the tree of life. He is actively involved in major interdisciplinary projects such as NanoEat, Microflora Danica, and DarkScience, funded by the European Research Council, Villum Foundation, and Poul Due Jensen Foundation.

His research interests span metagenomics, long-read sequencing, bioinformatics, microbial ecology, and environmental biotechnology. He develops cutting-edge methods to improve throughput in microbial genome recovery and applies them to diverse areas including wastewater treatment, human microbiome studies, and infectious disease diagnostics. His work has significant implications for public health and sustainability.

The recent publications highlight a strong trend in long-read sequencing (Oxford Nanopore), metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), and microbial dark matter. His team has published high-impact papers in Nature, Nature Methods, and Nature Communications, with applications in environmental systems and clinical diagnostics, including SARS-CoV-2 and bloodstream infections.

His scientific awards include:

• The Grundfos Prize (2021)
• The Fritz Kaufmann Prize (2021)
• The Rising Star Award by IWA & ISME (2016)
• Research Result of the Year in Denmark (2015)
• The Spar Nord Fond Research Prize (2015)

Mads Albertsen advises numerous PhD students, leads externally funded research projects, and is involved in technology transfer through his co-founding of DNASense ApS (2014–2020). He also serves on scientific advisory boards and contributes to public policy, including as a member of the Danish SARS-CoV-2 variant risk-assessment group. He teaches courses in Data Science, Bioinformatics, Genomics, and Environmental Microbiology at Aalborg University.

His lab, the Albertsen Lab, is part of the Center for Microbial Communities, a leading research center focused on microbial systems biology and environmental applications. The lab collaborates extensively with national and international partners in academia, industry, and public health institutions.