Nico Dantuma graduated in 1993 from the Free University in Amsterdam , The Netherlands, in Biology and Biomedicine. He received his Ph.D. at the Utrecht University , where he investigated from 1993 to 1997 lipoproteins in migratory locusts. Directly after he finished his Ph.D., he moved to Stockholm and joined the research team of Prof. Maria Masucci at the Microbiology and Tumor biology Center (MTC) of the Karolinska Institute. At that time he started his work on the ubiquitin/proteasome system with a major focus on the Epstein-Barr virus, which is responsible for acute mononucleosis. It was during this time that he developed the first reporter substrates for the ubiquitin/proteasome system and initiated his current research line on the ubiquitin/proteasome system in human disease, in particular in neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. In 2003, while spending a sabbatical year in the lab of Prof. Jacques Neefjes at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, he set up an assay for live cell imaging of ubiquitin, which led to the identification of DNA damage induced ubiquitylation of histone H2A. His research group moved in 2004 to the department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinksa Institute. Nico Dantuma is the recipient of the 2007 The Svedberg Award and the 2009 Eric K. Fernström award for his research on protein stability and its role in neurodegenerative diseases. Form March 2011, Nico Dantuma is appointed Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the Karolinska Institute. He enjoys exercising and various outdoor activities such as running, biking, swimming, kayaking, climbing, skiing, scuba diving and fishing. He likes reading and among his favorite books are Publieke werken (Thomas Rosenboom), Never let me go (Kazuo Ishiguro), and Djävulen och Gud (Mare Kandre).