[2] Jeltsch was the first to show that VEGF-C and VEGF-D are the principal growth factors for the lymphatic vasculature[3][4][5] and his research focuses on cancer drug targets and lymphangiogenesis.
He has also contributed to other seminal publications in cell biology[6][7] with transgenesis, protein engineering, recombinant production and purification.
In 2006, he developed a synthetic super-VEGF, using a library of VEGF hybrid molecules using a novel, non-random DNA family shuffling method.
[12] He was awarded Medix Prize by the Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research for best biomedical publication of the year in Finland in March 1997.
In 2015, he received the “Best Paper Award” in the category of Basic Science by Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association for his 2014 work,[13] in which he identified the molecular mechanism behind Hennekam syndrome.