Fields of interest

Research interests
The main focus of my group is development of state-of-the-art molecular pharmacological assays for G protein-coupled receptors and ionotropic glutamate receptors. These assays are being used to characterize ligands primarly synthesized at the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology with special focus on subtype selectivity of the ligands and development of ligands with novel pharmacological profiles (e.g. pathway biased ligands and allosteric modulators). In this way several subtype specific/selective ligands have been identified. Another interest is ligand-receptor interactions, subtype selectivity and the activation mechanisms of receptors. These aspects have been investigated by integrated use of point-mutations, random saturation mutagenesis, chimeric receptors, engineered zinc-sites and molecular modelling.

Orphan receptors, for which the endogenous ligands remains to be identified, are also a focus area of my group. Using bioinformatics and molecular biological tools, we screen focused compound libraries for endogenous and surrogate ligands. Recently, we were the first to report the endogenous agonists for the human GPRC6A and GPR139 G-protein coupled receptors. We are currently using a GPRC6A and GPR139 knockout mouse to unravel the physiological function and therapeutic prospect of these new exciting receptors.

Most recently, my group has engaged in the use of chemogenomics and virtual screening for identification of novel pharmacological tool compounds as for example our recent discovery of the most selective GPRC6A receptor and GluN3 antagonists and GPR132 agonist reported to date.

The majority of projects are run in close collaboration with computational and medicinal chemists.

CV

Academic degrees
2002: D.Sc. (dr. pharm.) Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
1996: Ph.D. Molecular Pharmacology, Royal Danish School of Pharmacy, Copenhagen.
1993: M.Sc. Pharmacy, Royal Danish School of Pharmacy, Copenhagen.

Employments
2002-present: Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
2000-2001: Research Associate Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
1997-1999: Research Assistant Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Royal Danish School of Pharmacy.
1993-1996: PhD student, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Royal Danish School of Pharmacy.

Awards & honors
2015: Elected member of the Danish Academy of Natural Sciences.
2012: Elite Researcher Prize, Ministry of Science (1.2 million DKK).
2011: Elected member of the Danish Society for Theoretical and Applied Therapy.
2007: Alfred Benzon Senior Researcher Stipend.
2006: The Lundbeck Foundation Prize for Young Investigators (250,000 DKK) .
2006: The Torkil Holm Foundation Research Prize (100,000 DKK) .
2006: Elected member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
2002: The Benzon Foundation 50^th Anniversary Honorary Prize (100,000 DKK) .
1997: The Danish Academy of Natural Sciences PhD award.
1994: H.C. Ørsted Medal, Royal Danish School of Pharmacy.
1992: Fulbright Fellowship

Selected scientific and academic activities
2017- : Vice President and Chair of the Class of Natural Sciences at the the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
2016- : Member of the presidium of the the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
2016- : Member of the board of the Alfred Benzon Foundation.
2013- : Head of the graduate program in pharmaceutical sciences, Drug Research Academy.
2012- : Member of the board of the Niels Bohr Foundation.
2008- : Member of the board of the journal Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology.
2015-19: Head of Section for Experimental Pharmacology.
2013-17: Management committee member and work group co-chair of the European Research Network COST Action CM1207 "GLISTEN: GPCR-Ligand Interactions, Structures, and Transmembrane Signalling".
2013-15: Member of the executive committee of the Faculty Research Committee.
2007-11: Member of the European Research Council (ERC) Expert Panels for Starting Grants (StG) - chairman for 2011 call.
2007-10: Member of the Board, University of Copenhagen Alumni.
2004-10: Member of the Danish Medical Research Council.
2004-10: Board member of the WorldPharma2010/IUPHAR congress.
2000- : Member of evaluation committees of 3 professorships, 2 assistant professorships and 30 PhD defenses (chairman of 19).
1993- : Invited speaker at >60 international scientific meetings and seminars.

Publications
185 peer-reviewed articles in international journals
17 book chapters and proceedings
Co-editor of 1 book and 1 special issue of Neurochemical Research
>7000 citations (ISI)
 h-index: 43 (ISI)

10 recent publications:
Jørgensen, C.V., S.J. Gasparini, J. Tu. H. Zhou, M.J. Seibel and H. Bräuner-Osborne. Metabolic and skeletal homeostasis are maintained in full locus GPRC6A knockout mice. Sci. Rep. (in press).
Nøhr, A.C., M.A. Shehata, D. Palmer, R. Pokhrel, M. Vallianou, S.R. Foster, P.R. Gentry, D.E. Gloriam, and H. Bräuner-Osborne. Identification of a novel scaffold for a small molecule GPR139 receptor agonist. Sci. Rep. 9: 3802 (2019).
Jacobsen S.E., U. Gether and H. Bräuner-Osborne. Investigating the molecular mechanism of positive and negative allosteric modulators in the calcium-sensing receptor dimer. Sci. Rep. 7: 46355 (2017).
Jacobsen S.E., I. Ammendrup-Johnsen , A.M. Jansen, U. Gether, K.L. Madsen and H. Bräuner-Osborne. The GPRC6A receptor displays constitutive internalization and is being sorted to the slow recycling pathway. J. Biol. Chem. 292: 6910-6926 (2017).
Clemmensen, C., C.V. Jørgensen, S. Smajilovic and H. Bräuner-Osborne. Robust GLP-1 secretion by basic L-amino acids does not require the GPRC6A receptor. Diabetes Obes. Metab. 19: 599-603 (2017).
Jørgensen S., C.T. Have, C.R. Underwood, L.D. Johansen, P. Wellendorph, G. Rui, A.P. Gjesing, C.V. Jørgensen, S. Quan, G. Rui, A. Inoue, A. Linneberg, N. Grarup, W. Jun, O. Pedersen, T. Hansen and H. Bräuner-Osborne. Genetic variations in the human GPCR6A receptor controls cell surface expression and function. J. Biol. Chem. 292: 1524-1534 (2017).
Xiong, X.-F., H. Zhang, C. R. Underwood, K. Harpsøe, Thomas J. Gardella, Mie F. Wöldike, Michael Mannstadt, D. E. Gloriam, H. Bräuner-Osborne, K. Strømgaard, Total synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies of a series of selective G protein inhibitors. Nature Chem. 8: 1035-1041 (2016).
Nørskov-Lauritsen, L., S. Jørgensen and H. Bräuner-Osborne. N-glycosylation and disulfide bonding affects GPRC6A receptor expression, function and dimerization. FEBS Lett. 589: 588-597 (2015).
Clemmensen, C., S. Smajilovic, P. Wellendorph and H. Bräuner-Osborne. The GPRC6A receptor: From cloning to physiological function. Br. J. Pharmacol. 171: 1129-1141 (2014).
Christiansen, B., T. Kvist, K.K. Madsen, L. Jørgensen, S.B. Vogensen, A. Schousboe, R.P. Clausen, A.A. Jensen and H. Bräuner-Osborne. Discovery of a subtype selective inhibitor of the human betaine/GABA transporter 1 (BGT-1) with a non-competitive profile. Biochem. Pharmacol. 86: 521-528 (2013).

Funding
Recipient of research grants of approx. 77 million DKK from external foundations, councils and pharmaceutical companies and of approx. 23 million DKK from internal competitive funding.
Current external funding:
Horizon2020 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Danish Council for Independent Research | Medical Sciences
The Lundbeck Foundation
The Novo Nordisk Foundation

Alumni
Post doctoral mentorship
Ee von Moo, 2019-
Christinna V. Jørgensen, 2018-
Thor C. Møller, 2017-
Patrick R. Gentry, 2017-
Line Vedel, 2015-
Mie F. Pedersen, 2018-2019
Simon R. Foster, 2015-2018
Christina Rye Underwood, 2014-2018
Stine E. Jacobsen, 2016-2017
Christian B. Billesbølle, 2016-2017
Trine Kvist, 2013-2016
Stine Jørgensen, 2013-2015
Dan Palmer, 2014
Sanela Smajilovic, 2009-2013
Christoffer Clemmensen, 2013
David Gloriam, 2008-2012
Daniel Sejer Pedersen, 2008-2012
Jesper Mosolff Mathiesen, 2008-2012
Vikram Kjøller Bhatia, 2010-2011
Kasper Bø Hansen, 2007-2010
Petrine Wellendorph, 2006-2010
Anders A. Jensen, 2001-2008

PhD principal supervisor
Yufang Deng, 2018-
Iris Mos, 2016-
Michael W. Boesgaard, 2016-
Mie Fabricius Wöldike, 2015-2019
Angela Arsova, 2015-2018
Christinna V. Jørgensen, 2014-2019
Maja Jessen, 2014-2018
Anne Cathrine Nøhr, degree in 2017
Stine E. Jacobsen, degree in 2017
Hanna Belcik, degree in 2016
Line Vedel, degree in 2015
Lenea Nøskov-Lauritsen, degree in 2014
Vignir Isberg, degree in 2014
Henrik Johansson, degree in 2014
Kirsten Bayer Andersen, degree in 2013
Christina Mølck, degree in 2013
Trine Kvist, degree in 2013
Christoffer Clemmensen, degree in 2013
Alex Rojas Bie Thomsen, degree in 2012
Lars Dan Johansen, degree in 2010
Bolette Christiansen, degree in 2009
Karen Krzywkowski, degree in 2008
Bo Hansen, degree in 2007
Kasper Bø Hansen, degree in 2006
Petrine Wellendorph, degree in 2006
Jesper M. Mathiesen, degree in 2005
Mette B. Hermit, degree in 2004
Steffen Runge, degree in 2003
Anders A. Jensen, degreee in 2001

Possible conflicts of interest

2015-2017: Supervisor for Industrial PhD student co-sponsored by H. Lundbeck A/S.

2015-2016: Supervising masters students doing their research at Novo Nordisk A/S and H. Lundbeck A/S.