Rate My Professor Vijay Tiwari

Professor Vijay Tiwari is Full Professor of Neurobiology, Head of Research at the Genome Biology Unit in the Institute of Molecular Medicine, and DIAS Chair of Health Sciences at the Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Odense, since January 2023. He holds the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) Chair from October 2023 to December 2027, focusing on gene regulatory mechanisms underlying neural fate decisions and disruptions in neurological disorders. Tiwari obtained his MSc in Molecular and Human Genetics from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, in 2002, and his PhD from the Department of Development and Genetics at Uppsala University, Sweden, in 2006. His postdoctoral training spanned Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA (2006-2008), as a Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Fellow, and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland (2008-2012), supported by Marie Curie and EMBO Fellowships. He served as Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Mainz, Germany (2012-2018), earning his Habilitation in Epigenetic Regulation of Development in 2016, and as Senior Associate Professor at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast, UK (2018-2023), where he remains Honorary Professor.

Tiwari's research centers on illuminating gene regulatory programs driving neural fate decisions, neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and disruptions contributing to neurodevelopmental disorders, employing epigenetics, transcription factor biology, genomics, and computational biology. Landmark publications include transcription factors shaping the DNA methylome during neurogenesis (Nature, 2011), JNK-mediated epigenetic reprogramming for neurogenesis (Nature Genetics, 2012), dynamic epigenetic modulation of gene regulatory landscapes (Genome Research, 2015), NeuroD1 as a pioneer transcription factor in neurogenesis (EMBO Journal, 2016), spatiotemporally defined transcription factor expression inducing neuronal enhancers (Cell Stem Cell, 2018), PHF21B governing epigenetic control of neural stem cell differentiation (Genes & Development, 2020), ZNF827 regulating neuronal migration in autism-risk contexts (Nature Cell Biology, 2022), and gene regulatory mechanisms underlying cortical folding (Science Advances, 2024). His contributions extend to epilepsy and cancer epigenetics. Tiwari has garnered awards including the Novo Nordisk Foundation start-up grant, Faculty Member of the Year (2022), Wilhelm Sander-Stiftung Award (2015), Bruno Speck Award (2013), EU Young Investigator's RISE1 Award (2012), and various fellowships. He leads the Tiwari Laboratory, fostering collaborations with Odense University Hospital and international partners, advancing patient-oriented genomics research.