Six professors received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award of Semmelweis University

Six outstanding professors received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award of Semmelweis University, who were nominated by four different departments of Semmelweis University. The 42^nd Award Ceremony was opened by Dr. Péter Hermann, Vice-Rector for Educational Affairs, who highlighted in his opening speech that Semmelweis University has been providing Doctor Honoris Causa Awards since 1967.

This year three professors nominated by the Faculty of Medicine received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award. The laudations of the awardees, their scientific achievements and their professional collaboration with Semmelweis University were introduced by Dr. László Hunyady, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. László Bögre earned his degree at the Agricultural University Gödöllő, but during his university studies he already started his research at the Biological Research Centre in Szeged. Later on the major fields of his interest have become signal transduction and cell cycle regulation. In 2000 he was invited to take up a position at London University, Royal Holloway College, where he became full professor, but he also had been a guest lecturer in Japan and the Netherlands during this period. He has a strong professional cooperation with the Department of Biochemistry of Semmelweis University.

Dr. Walter Klepetko is the founder of the Vienna Lung Transplantation Programme and starting from 2010 the Head of the first independent Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna. Professor Klepetko has outstanding scientific achievements. His unit became an internationally recognized Center of Excellence for Lung Transplantation. As a result of the well-elaborated cooperation with Professor Klepetko and the Medical University of Vienna, the Hungarian Lung Transplantation Programme could be launched successfully in Hungary. During the past years several specialists from Semmelweis University went to Vienna in order to master the required knowledge in the field of lung transplantation.

Dr. Lajos Okolicsányi was born in Budapest, he earned his MD degree at the University School of Medicine, Padua. Professor Okolicsányi’s main interest is the physiology and pathophysiology of the liver and biliary tree. He is professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University School of Medicine in Padua. Professor Okolicsányi is an active member of the Society of the Hungarian Gastroenterologists. He has always been very helpful with those Hungarian doctors who visited Italy, and has tried to keep the history of 1956 alive.

Dr. Josep Figueras, nominated by the Faculty of Health and Public Administration also received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award. The laudation was introduced to the audience by Dr. Péter Gaál, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Public Administration.

Dr. Josep Figueras is an internationally recognized leading health policy expert and health services researcher, one of the most recognized and influential figures of European and world health policy. He is the founding director of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, his research focuses on comparative health system and policy analysis. His collaboration with Semmelweis University dates back to over 20 years. Due to the fruitful collaboration with Professor Figueras, Health Services Management Training Centre was awarded the honourable title WHO Collaborating Center.

Dr. Henning H. Blume, nominated by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences also received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award. The laudation was introduced to the audience by Dr. Romána Zelkó, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Dr. Henning H. Blume is professor of Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. His fields of research include biopharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic investigations, with particular focus on the characterisation of bioavailability and bioequivalence of medicinal products. Professor Blume is member of a number of international scientific associations in the fields of biopharmaceutics and clinical pharmacology.

Dr. Gábor J. Tigyi, nominated by the School of PhD Studies also received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award. The laudation was introduced to the audience by Dr. László Hunyady, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. Gábor J. Tigyi was born in Hungary: He earned his medical degree in Pécs and received his Ph.D. degree in cellular and molecular neurobiology. His postgraduate training was completed, among others, at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Currently he is professor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, his primary scientific interest concerns the physiological and pathophysiological role of lysophospholipid mediators. Professor Tigyi has several scientific collaborations with institutes worldwide, and at Semmelweis University he has had a very successful cooperation with the Institute of Clinical Experimental Research.