Claire Koenig
Guest Researcher
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark
Biografi
Claire Koenig is a proteomics and palaeoproteomics researcher at the University of Copenhagen. She specialises in analysing ancient proteins preserved in fossilised teeth and bones to uncover biological details about extinct human relatives. Her work has helped pioneer high-throughput, minimally invasive methods for extracting enamel proteins, allowing researchers to determine the biological sex and genetic traits of individuals who lived hundreds of thousands to millions of years ago. Claire played a key role in a landmark study that used these techniques to analyse Paranthropus robustus fossils from South Africa, revealing genetic diversity and sex distribution in this extinct hominin species. With a background in chemistry and training across European institutions, she combines advanced mass spectrometry with archaeological insight. Her research is helping reshape our understanding of human evolution—one protein at a time.
