Marvin Tanenbaum received his PhD (Cum Laude) in 2010 from Utrecht University for his work on cell division in the group of Prof. René Medema. During his PhD work, Marvin used live-cell microscopy to study the molecular mechanism of chromosome segregation during cell division. After obtaining his PhD, he received KWF and EMBO fellowships to perform his postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. Ron Vale at UCSF in the United States. As a postdoc, Marvin developed a keen interest in studying the control mechanisms and dynamics of gene expression in single cells, focusing on gene expression control during the cell cycle. He pioneered several new techniques using protein engineering that enabled direct observation of single protein molecules in action, and developed methods to observe gene expression in single living cells by fluorescence microscopy. He also developed a technique to modulate the activity of individual genes in single cells. In 2015, he became a group leader at the Hubrecht Institute. His group studies the molecular mechanisms of gene expression control at the single-molecule level, both for humans and in viruses, and aims to understand how control of gene expression affects important cellular decisions.
