Kristian is a molecular biologist and cancer researcher, who has made several ground-breaking discoveries in the field of cell cycle control, epigenetics and cancer. He isolated the first E2F transcription factors and showed their crucial role in cell cycle control and cancer. His laboratory’s seminal discovery that JmjC-domain containing proteins are histone demethylases has wide-impact for our understanding of gene expression, development and disease. Kristian's many additional contributions include pioneering work on histone and DNA methylation and their role in transcriptional regulation, cell fate decisions and cancer. Kristian's work has also led him to establish the biotech companies EpiTherapeutics and Dania Therapeutics.

Kristian has had research leadership positions in four different countries and serves currently as the Chief Executive of the ICR. He is an elected member of EMBO, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the European Academy of Cancer Sciences.  He has received several prestigious awards, including the Novo Nordisk Prize, the Carlsberg Foundation Research Prize and the Anders Jahre Research Prize.