Ari Helenius

Ari Helenius is a Finnish emeritus professor of biochemistry who is known for his research in virology.

Personal life

He did his PhD with Kai Simons at the University of Helsinki in 1973. From 1975 until 1981 he worked as a staff scientist at the newly created European [Molecular Biology Laboratory]. From 1981 to 1997, he was a professor at Yale University, where he was chair of the department of cell biology from 1992 to 1997. In 1997, he joined the ETH Zurich as a founding member of the Institute of Biochemistry.
His research has earned him awards for the characterization of how viruses enter cells, and methods of protein folding and assembly. In 1999, he was appointed a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization.

1973 Komppa Prize for the best doctoral thesis in chemistry in Finland
1991 and 1992 Humboldt Research Award
1992 Lamb Professorship of Molecular Pathogenesis at the Vanderbilt University
1992 NICHD Lectureship in Cell Biology des National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, USA
1993 Honorary Professor of Carol Davila [University of Medicine and Pharmacy], Bucharest
1995 AI Virtanen Prize in Biochemistry
1997 Spinoza Visiting Professorship at the University of Amsterdam
2001 Elected member of the National [Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]
2002 Member of the Academia Europaea
2003 Schleiden Medal of the Leopoldina
2003 Foreign Member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences
2003 Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine, together with Reinhard G. Lührmann
2007 Order of the [White Rose of Finland] from the Finnish government
2007 Marcel Benoist Prize
2008 Van Deenen Medal for leading research on biomembranes
2009 Elected Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences
2010 Otto Warburg Medal from the Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
2010 Elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology
2010 Bijvoet Medal of the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research at Utrecht University
2011 Heinrich Pette Lecture of the Heinrich Pette Institute
2012 Keith R. Porter Lecture
2016 Loeffler-Frosch Medal of the Society of Virology