Thomas Meier grew up in Schaan and graduated from the Liechtenstein Gymnasium in Vaduz in 1993. He then studied biology at ETH Zurich, specialising in microbiology, immunology, cell biology, genetics and plant physiology, and attended courses in didactics and education. He completed his doctorate in 2002 at the Institute of Microbiology at ETH Zurich. From 2006, he conducted research as a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main in the field of structural biology and bioenergetics before accepting a professorship and the Chair of Structural Biology at the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London in 2015. From 2017 to 2021, he directed the Centre of Excellence for Structural Biology at Imperial College.
Prof. Dr. sc. nat. Thomas Meier has been Director of the Liechtenstein Institute since 1 November 2023.
Thomas Meier’s research projects at his previous places of work focussed on the biochemical and structural (imaging) investigation of energy-providing processes at the cell boundary (membrane) of animals, plants and bacteria. Of central importance here is the enzyme “ATP synthase”, a protein complex that uses charged particles (ions) as an energy source to produce the molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the universal energy supplier in all living cells. ATP synthase works like a turbine in a power station with a rotor that transports the ions across the membrane and a stator that converts the rotational energy into ATP. Nota bene: Every person produces almost their own body weight of ATP molecules every day and at the same time uses it up again for energy-consuming processes, such as muscle or brain activity.
Thomas Meier’s work has contributed significantly to the functional understanding of the mechanism of this smallest but highly efficient “ion motor”. It also forms a basis for understanding the mechanism of action of selected antibiotics (e.g. bedaquiline) or the development of new drugs against multiple resistances in infectious diseases, e.g. tuberculosis or pneumonia. His work also provides a molecular understanding of certain inherited defects in cellular energy supply in mitochondria (the “power stations” in cells), which can lead to serious neurodegenerative diseases such as Leigh syndrome. Furthermore, his laboratory was able to make a significant contribution to the understanding of energy conversion and regulation of photosynthesis with the first high-resolution (atomic) structural description of the complete ATP synthase from plants.
Thomas Meier’s scientific publications are recognised in international scientific journals, e.g. Science, Nature Communications, PNAS and EMBO Reports. He gives numerous lectures at conferences, universities, and research institutes, organises conferences and regularly prepares expert reports for research funding bodies and scientific journals. He has worked as a consultant and collaborator for the pharmaceutical companies Roche and Johnson&Johnson. His research togehter with his team has been funded by third-party funders such as the German Research Foundation (DFG) and Wellcome UK, and reached approximately 10 million Swiss francs (including his collaborative/consortia projects). He is internationally networked with collaboration partners and research colleagues and has received various awards for his work. In 2006 he was honoured with the Swiss Society of Microbiology Award and in 2016 with the Wellcome UK Investigator Award.
*corresponding author
underlined: Member of the Meier research group (ETH Zürich, Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt, Imperial College London)
Teaching
During his doctoral thesis and as a postdoc at ETH Zurich, Thomas Meier took part in basic practical courses in microbiology. At the Goethe University Frankfurt, he took part in the basic lecture in metabolism (biochemistry) as a lecturer from 2006 and participated in the practical course in microbiology. From 2015, he organised a biochemistry course module in applied molecular biochemistry at Imperial College London and gave lectures, tutorials and practicals in structural biology, bioenergetics, molecular biology and microbiology. He also offered annual laboratory projects in his own lab for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes. By summer 2023, 24 Bachelor’s, 24 Master’s and 12 PhD students had completed their work in his laboratory.
Education | |
2002 | Doctor of Natural Sciences (Dr. sc. nat. ETH) with distinction / ETH-Medal, ETH Zurich |
1998–2002 | Doctorate at the Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich (Mentor: Prof. Dr. Peter Dimroth) |
1998 | Diploma in Biology (Dipl. Natw. ETH), Final subjects: Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Plant Physiology and Cell Biology |
1997–1998 | Courses “Higher Teaching Qualification”, two semesters didactics and pedagogy, ETH Zurich |
1993–1998 | Biology studies, ETH Zurich |
1993 |
Matura, type B |
1985 –1993 | Liechtenstein Gymnasium, Vaduz |
Professional Career | |
since 11.2023 | Director of the Liechtenstein Institute |
2015–2023 | Chair in Structural Biology, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London |
2017–2021 | Director, Centre for Structural Biology, Imperial Centres of Excellences, Imperial College, London |
2006–2015 | Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main |
2005–2006 | Group Leader at the Institute for Microbiology, ETH Zurich |
2002–2004 |
Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich |