John-Erik Stig Hansen

Director of the Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness, Denmark, since 2001. The centre is the national biosecurity agency and is also responsible for the operational incident response of Statens Serum Institut to biological security threats and biohazard accidents.

Born in 1958, Dr. Hansen obtained the medical degree (MD) from the University of Copenhagen in 1985. After military service as first lieutenant in the Danish Army Medical Corps he has had clinical training at university hospitals in urology, endocrinology and infectious diseases. He is certified as a chief physician and was conferred the doctorate of medical science (DMSc) in 1992 by the University of Copenhagen. Previous senior positions include Head of Research at the Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, Hvidovre Hospital, University of Copenhagen 1991-1999, and Head of the Department of Documentation, Research & Information at the Danish Centre for Rare Diseases and Disabilities 1999-2001.

Primary research subjects are biodefence, retrovirology and glycoprotein immunochemistry, and Dr. Hansen has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles in international journals and more than 200 articles, chapters, and books on popular science and bioethics. He is an experienced speaker at international conferences, meetings and courses, and his scientific teaching experience includes tutorship for several PhD students within the field of virology. 

Dr. Hansen is a member of the Danish Medical Association. Previously he has served as president of the Danish Society for Virology, member of the BioMedical Advisory Committee of NATO, and chairman of the CBRN working group of the European Security Research & Innovation Forum. Currently ,he is the Danish representative in the Health Security Committee of the EU Commission.