Dr. Robert F.H. Dekker
Director and Senior Ontario Research Chair in Biorefining Research
Dr. Robert Dekker is the Founding Director of the Biorefining Research Initiative at Lakehead University and also holds a senior Ontario Research Chair in Biorefining. His field of research expertise is in biotechnology where he has worked for some 40 years on various topics related to non-medical biotechnology including the biodegradation of plant cell walls using microbial species and their 
enzyme systems, polysaccharides from plants, and bacteria and fungi, and the bioconversion of plant biomass, mainly lignocellulosic 
residues resulting from processing of agricultural crops and forestry wastes.
Dr. Dekker’s interests in biorefining research are in: Bioconversion of Forest Residues (i) steam-explosion pretreatment of forest biomass; optimising conditions to allow more efficient and cost-effective pretreatment for saccharification of cellulose to glucose, (ii) enzymes hydrolysing cellulose; screening of wood-decay microbes for more efficient and effective enzymes hydrolysing cellulose, and their production through fermentation, (iii) re-designing cellulases by addressing problems related to enzyme instability (environmental exposure, end-product inhibition) by applying bioinformatics (computer-assisted biomolecular design) and molecular approaches to engineer better-performing enzymes, (iv) enzymes degrading the hemicellulose components (xylans and glucomannans) of softwood and hardwood species, (v) value-adding of pentose sugars from hemicelluloses through fermentation (xylitol, arabinitol), (vi) production of oligosaccharides (xylosides, β-1,3:1,6-glucosides) as nutriceuticals (prebiotics) and immunoceuticals, (vii) applications of lignin-degrading enzymes (laccases) in the production of synthetic adhesives, for enzymatic coloration of woods targeted for furniture and floor boards, as bio-bleaching agents of chemical wood pulps, for bioremediation and decolorisation of textile dyes in industrial waste effluents, for the fabrication of enzyme biosensors to monitor environmental pollutants (aromatic, phenolic and xenobiotic compounds) and pharmaceuticals (catecholamines, dopamines). Natural Products from the Boreal Forest Ecosystem - the Microbiota. Screening for bacteria, actinomyces, yeasts and fungi (mushroom and bracket-type macrofungi included) in forest soils, decaying wood and decomposing forest-litter for (i) enzymes degrading the lignified plant cell wall, and for the production of (ii) biopolymers, (iii) antibiotics, (iv) compounds with pharmaceutical activities for human and animal healthcare (anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory), and (v) as agents for the resolution of environmental problems (bioremediation).
Contact Information:
Dr. Robert F.H. DekkerBiorefining Research Initiative
Lakehead University
1294 Balmoral St.Building, Room 3001D
955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada P7B 5E1
Tel: (807) 343-8844
Fax: (807) 343-8240
Email: rdekker@lakeheadu.ca