Peter Csermely - Biography#

Web-site containing a full publication list: http://www.linkgroup.hu/petercsermely.php.

Peter Csermely (54) is a professor of the Semmelweis University (Budapest, Hungary). His major fields of study are networks, stress adaptation and aging (http://www.linkgroup.hu). In all his studies he pursued original ideas far from the actual mainstream. During 1985 and 1987 he discovered several zinc-dependent steps of lymphocyte activation – many years ahead of the general acceptance of zinc-signaling in neural and immune cells. He discovered a low-affinity ATP binding of Hsp90, leading to a long debate and proving his original findings by the X-ray crystal of the Hsp90-ATP complex. Applying his experience as the Chief Scientist of a biotech firm developing chaperone co-inducer anti-neurodegenerative and anti-diabetic drugs, he described and gave initial proof that aging-induced overload of chaperones leads to the release of misfolded proteins, and contributes to a number of civilization diseases. Recognizing that the drugs he developed are multi-target drugs, he gave an initial proof that multi-target drugs can be as efficient as 'magic bullets' at the network level. He described that low affinity links stabilize all networks from molecules to societies. He not only studies but devotedly builds networks.

In 1995 Peter Csermely launched a highly successful initiative providing top research opportunities for more than 10,000 gifted high school students. Promoting the cooperation of similar initiatives in 14 countries, he established a Network of Youth Excellence (http:/www.nyex.info) with Leon Lederman, Nobel Laureate. In 2006 he started and chairs the Hungarian National Talent Support Council (http://www.tehetsegpont.hu) building a talent support network involving approximately 200,000 people and establishing a Europe-wide network (http://www.talentday.eu]).

Peter Csermely wrote and edited 15 books (including the Weak Links at Springer) and published two hundred research papers with a total citation over 6,200. Dr. Csermely was the member of the Wise Persons’ Council of the Hungarian President, is a vice president of the Hungarian Biochemical Society is the past president of Cell Stress Society International, an Ashoka Fellow, a member of MENSA HungarIQa, was a Fogarty, a Howard Hughes and a Rockefeller Scholar, and received several other national and international honors and awards including the 2004 Descartes Award of the European Union for Science Communication. He is the president of the European Council of High Ability.