Time for this year’s honorary doctorate lectures

Appointing honorary doctors is a tradition at Uppsala University dating back to the mid-19th century, and the title is conferred upon individuals who have made outstanding scientific contributions or otherwise furthered research at the university, appointed by the faculties themselves.

This year, the Faculty of Medicine has chosen to appoint Edith Heard, Director-General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and Professor of Epigenetics at Collège de France; Hugo Katus, Senior Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Heidelberg University; and Peter Visscher, Professor of Quantitative Genetics at the University of Queensland and Oxford University.

For the schedule of honorary doctorate lectures, please see below.

Hugo Katus – the father of Troponin T analysis

Hugo Katus was the first to identify the enhanced diagnostic capability of the heart-specific Troponin T, a cardiac biomarker.

“Hugo Katus is the father of Troponin T analysis, and it is based on this achievement that we consider him a highly suitable person for an honorary doctorate. Uppsala University also has a long tradition of researching biomarkers for heart diseases, especially Troponin T, a cardiac injury marker,” says Bertil Lindahl, Professor of Cardiology at the Department of Medical Sciences.

Even for this research at Uppsala University, Hugo Katus’s contributions have been crucial.

“His main contribution has been developing and patenting the method for analysing Troponin T, which has been crucial for conducting the type of research we do. The method itself has also led to better care for patients with various heart diseases worldwide. Uppsala University has had a collaboration with Hugo Katus since the early 2000s.”

For those who know Hugo from this collaboration – how did he react to the news about the honorary doctorate title?

“Hugo Katus has received many different honours over the years, but I perceive that he is genuinely happy that we have recognised his scientific contributions and awarded him an honorary doctorate at Uppsala University. He is looking forward to the celebration in Uppsala, notes Bertil Lindahl.

Peter Visscher – breaking new ground in a new field

At the beginning of his career, Peter Visscher worked on quantitative genetics in animal genetics. This is where Leif Andersson, Professor of Functional Genomics at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, first got acquainted to Visscher.

“I also have a background in animal genetics and earned my doctorate at SLU. Peter Visscher worked on quantitative genetics in the same field, so we met regularly in the 90s.”

In 2001, the human genome was mapped, opening up for large-scale analyses of genetic relationships and underlying causes of common diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and inflammatory diseases. Visscher realised that his knowledge and experience in quantitative and statistical genetics in animal genetics could be valuable.

“The expertise Peter Visscher had was largely lacking among human geneticists, and thus, a completely new field opened up where his experience could be extremely valuable. His career is a very good example of how experience from one field can be ground breaking in another,” says Leif Andersson.

How would you describe Visscher’s contribution to quantitative genetics?

“His contribution has been to develop advanced statistical models to handle these extremely large data sets. The answers from the analyses must be representative, and Peter’s models are an important contribution. He has also been involved in developing what is called Polygenic Risk Scores, meaning that large amounts of data about our genome can help predict if we are at a higher risk of certain diseases.”

Peter Visscher has had an ongoing collaboration with Uppsala University for many years and was even a co-author of a paper with Leif Andersson’s group just last year.

“We conducted a large-scale analysis of 4,000 Darwin finches, which was a unique study to investigate genetic variation in nature, and collaboration with Peter Visscher was crucial for achieving the best possible statistical analysis. Overall, Peter’s contributions to the field we now call data-driven life sciences have been incredibly important and are a major reason why we chose to nominate him for an honorary doctorate.”

Edith Heard – ground breaking research in epigenetics

Professor Edith Heard’s research area is epigenetics, which involves chemical modifications of the genetic material that activate or deactivate genes – either temporarily or throughout an individual's entire lifespan. More specifically, she focuses on X-inactivation, meaning that the X chromosome is deactivated during embryonic development in female cells to balance the copy number difference since women inherit two X chromosomes. Her longstanding research in the field has led to breakthroughs in understanding the mechanisms behind X chromosome inactivation and increased knowledge about chromosome architecture in general. Edith Heard has demonstrated how X-inactivation works in normal development and how it is disrupted in diseases such as breast cancer. Her research is regularly published in top scientific journals, and she has received numerous prestigious awards and honours.

“Her research on how X chromosome inactivation works has improved our understanding of the basic principles of gene regulation in health and disease,” says Sven Nelander, Professor in Integrative Cancer Research at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology.

Edith Heard works as a professor at Collège de France, Paris, and Director-General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). It is in these roles that Heard has been most significant for Uppsala University.

“Since 2004, Uppsala University has had an exchange agreement with Collège de France. This provides an opportunity to invite professors to Uppsala and for us to suggest researchers or teachers from here to lecture in Paris. In 2015, Edith Heard was in Uppsala as part of the exchange, and during her time here, she taught and held research seminars. Furthermore, SciLifeLab has a collaboration agreement with EMBL, where Edith Heard serves as Director-General, emphasizing that both organizations should work together to advance research for the benefit of healthcare, biodiversity, the environment, and many other areas.”

As recently as May 2023, a joint workshop was held in Uppsala organized by EMBL and SciLifeLab on integrated data processing and AI.

How has Edith Heard contributed to Uppsala University?

“In addition to her outstanding research in epigenetics, the exchange with Collège de France and EMBL, where Heard is active, has been significant for Uppsala University and especially for the Faculty of Medicine,” says Karin Forsberg Nilsson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

Robin Widing