He has a Bachelor of Surgery degree in Physics from the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam,(1974), a Master of Surgery in Physics from Utrecht University (1976), and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Physics (1976) from the University of Southern California.
He is a specialist in the theory of condensed matter. His research specialties include the numerical Simulation of active proteins and of Gene transcription, the self-assembly of viruses, deoxyribonucleic acid, and chromatin, the electrostatics of deoxyribonucleic acid and electrical transport along deoxyribonucleic acid, and adhesion of vesicles and cells. Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University 1979-1980.
Research Associate, Brookhaven National Laboratory 1980-1982.
Visiting Scientist, International Business Machines Corporation Research Center, Yorktown, 1982-1984. Assistant Professor of Physics, University of California, 1984-1988 Associate Professor of Physics, University of California, 1988-1990 Full Professor of Physics, University of California, 1990–present Chair, Theoretical Physics for the Life Sciences, Leiden University, 2001–present.
