Eight outstanding, internationally recognized professors have received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award of Semmelweis University during the ceremony held at Semmelweis Salon on November 10, 2017. All of the professors have strong professional ties with Semmelweis University. During his opening speech, Dr. Ágoston Szél, Rector emphasized that our institution has been providing the Doctor Honoris Causa Award to awardees since 1967, on the basis of the nominations by the different faculties. This year the Doctor Honoris Causa Award Ceremony was organized for the 43rd time.
This year seven 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. Christine Baylis has been Robert Cade Professor of Physiology and Medicine and Director of the Hypertension Center at Gainesville, University of Florida from 2004. Dr. Baylis’ renal physiology specific interest areas include: renal hemodynamics; blood pressure control; kidney in pregnancy; aging kidney; sexual dimorphism in kidney function. She has been in strong collaboration with researchers at Semmelweis University for almost three decades, out of whom seven researchers had an opportunity to work at Dr. Baylis’ laboratory. As a result of their cooperation, many high-level publications were created.
Dr. Mikael Björnstedt is the Head of Laboratory for Clinical Pathology and Cytology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm. His main scientific interest is the Novel redox based chemotherapeutics for cancer treatment. The collaboration of Karolinska and Semmelweis Universities has been started more than 10 years ago. Professor Björnstedt established a special exchange program between the two institutions for pathologists, which helps to keep Hungarian pathologists in Hungary. In the framework of the collaboration several scientific programs were started and papers were published in the fields of cancer pathogenesis and cancer treatment.
Dr. Gerhard Hindricks is the Director of the Department of Electrophysiology at the Heart Center Leipzig. He is one of the most experienced clinical electrophysiologists in catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. In the 1990s, Professor Hindricks contributed significantly to the development of radiofrequency catheter ablation on a biophysical and clinical basis. His research interests also include electrical therapy of heart failure. Professor Hindricks is an honorary member of the Hungarian Society of Cardiology. He has visited Hungary several times, and he has strong professional ties with the physicians of the Heart and Vascular Centre. They are working on several ongoing mutual research projects together.
Dr. Keiichi Maruyama is nowadays one of the most famous oncology surgeons in the world, currently he is working as Professor of Surgical Oncology of the International University of Health and Welfare Sanno Medical Center in Tokyo. His main scientific-surgical interests are the wound healing of intestinal anastomosis and the surgical treatment of gastric cancer, as well as the development of new operation techniques. He has actively participated in the establishment of the Japan-Hungarian Surgical Society and established strong scientific and professional connections with the surgeons of Semmelweis University. Professor Maruyama contributes to the modern treatment of Hungarian patients as well by handing over the results of his research and expertise and by teaching his operation techniques to Hungarian surgeons.
Dr. George Kunos is the Scientific Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the American National Institute of Health. He started his scientific career at our University, he quickly became one of the leading experts in the field of catecholamine receptor biology. During the last two decades, Professor Kunos and his colleagues made fundamental discoveries regarding the role of endocannabinoids in the pathogenesis of such pandemic diseases as alcoholic liver disease, diet induced obesity, type-2 diabetes and fibrosis associated pathologies. Professor Kunos is regularly listed in the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers’ List and is one of the highest cited Hungarian scientists. Throughout his career Professor Kunos maintained a close and fruitful connection with the Hungarian scientific community.
Dr. Rainer Schulz has been the Chairman of Physiology at the Justus-Liebig University Giessen since 2011. He achieved international recognition for his research conducted in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and its prevention. He is the author of more than 300 scientific publications, the number of his impact factor exceeds 21 000. In 2014 he was listed in the Highlycited Researcher List. Professor Schulz started to collaborate with Professor Péter Ferdinandy’s research group 15 years ago, as a result of which almost 30 mutual publications were created.
Dr. Josef Smolen is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Chairman of Division of Rheumatology and the 3rd Department of Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, and he is also Head of the Center of Rheumatic Diseases at Hietzing Hospital. He is an outstanding and highly acknowledged personality of immunology and rheumatology, one of the leading experts of clinicians and researchers in this field. He is also known for his new method, which is called „Treat to Target” strategy and it involves the medical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Professor Smolen has had important scientific collaborations with the Hungarian rheumatology community for many years, resulting in mutually reviewed publications and international recommendations.
The laudation of the awardee nominated by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, his scientific achievements and his professional collaboration with Semmelweis University were introduced by Dr. Romána Zelkó, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Dr. Clive G. Wilson is a Research Professor at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. Among others he is an internationally acknowledged researcher in biopharmacy, pharmacokinetics, drug technology as well as the physiological gastrointestinal retard drug development. Professor Wilson held lectures in Hungary and at Semmelweis University several times, and he has strong professional ties with several researchers of the Department of Pharmaceutics, as a result of which many scientific publications were established. Currently there is an ongoing research project that is conducted mutually by Professor Wilson and Semmelweis University.
Following the laudations, Dr. Ágoston Szél, Dr. László Hunyady and Dr. Romána Zelkó handed over the awards and stoles for all the awardees, after which the eight professors held their ceremonial speeches.
Rector Szél highlighted that by having received the Doctor Honoris Causa Award, not only the awardees were honoured with this prestigious acknowledgement, but Semmelweis University is also honoured by the presence and collaboration of the awardees.
Pálma Dobozi
Photo: Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University
Translation: Katalin Illés-Romhányi
Sources used for the English language translation:
http://nephrology.medicine.ufl.edu/about-us/patient-care/christine-baylis/
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