Hans Westerhoff
Dutch biologist
Hans Victor Westerhoff (born 14 January 1953) is a Dutch biologist and biochemist who is professor of synthetic systems biology at the University of Amsterdam and AstraZeneca professor of systems biology at the University of Manchester. Currently he is a Chair of AstraZeneca and a director of the Manchester Centre for Integrative Systems Biology.
Career
Westerhoff was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was educated at the University of Amsterdam where he was awarded a PhD in 1983 for investigations of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and the control of biological thermodynamics supervised by Karel van Dam. In 1996 he succeeded Ad Stouthamer as professor of microbiology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Research
At the beginning of his career Westerhoff worked in the area of non-equilibrium thermodynamics in relation to biological energy transduction. His work on this topic led to a book written with Karel Van Dam.
After being a coauthor of one of the first experimental papers to stimulate interest in metabolic control analysis and participating in the group that proposed a harmonized terminology, Westerhoff moved progressively towards working on multi-enzyme systems as his major activity, starting with an analysis of the effect of enzyme activity on metabolite concentrations. He published many papers in this area, of which one may note an analysis of the control of regulatory cascades, analysqis of glycolytic oscilations in yeast, and showing that the in vivo behaviour of Trypanosoma brucei agreed with the kinetic properties of the glycolytic enzymes.
Westerhoff and colleagues discovered magainin in the African clawed frog which helps it fight against bacteria.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hans Westerhoff” is dutch biologist. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hans, Westerhoff and Dutch, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “dutch biologist” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15989741. VIAF identifies the subject as 24695586. The Library of Congress control number is n85306819. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 1983 and 1996.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hans Westerhoff”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hans Westerhoff primary sources, Hans Westerhoff archive and Hans research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hans Westerhoff”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hans Westerhoff” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.