Bjørn Panyella Pedersen

Bjørn Panyella Pedersen earned his PhD in 2008 after determining the first structures of the plant proton‑pump P‑type ATPase and the animal Na⁺/K⁺‑ATPase that create electrochemical gradients in plants and animals, respectively. A post‑doctoral stint at the University of California‑San Francisco saw him uncover how CAX transporters exchange calcium for protons—a key element of plant stress responses—and provide the inaugural structural view of phosphate uptake in eukaryotes broadly and specifically in mycorrhiza‑like fungi.

Since 2014 he has led a research group at Aarhus University where the focus lies on membrane proteins that move sugars and hormones across plant membranes. By integrating cryo‑EM, X‑ray crystallography and a suite of biophysical assays, his lab dissects the proton‑driven mechanisms that underlie hormone and sugar transport. The work routinely bridges plant physiology with the broader biology of secondary active transporters.

Prof. Pedersen is internationally recognized for his contributions to plant membrane transport; his papers have accumulated more than 4,900 citations in journals such as Nature, Cell, Nature Plants, Nature Biotechnology and PNAS. He is the director of the DNRF Center of Excellence Plant‑PATH; a research center and collaboration spanning Denmark, Belgium and Germany.
Beyond research, he has mentored over 70 scientists from 11 nationalities, served as an EMBO Young Investigator, AIAS fellow and TUM-IAS fellow, and has contributed to science policy through the Young Academy of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.