Hugo Katus proud and grateful to be an honorary doctor
Hugo Katus is a professor at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Heidelberg. He was the first to identify troponin T as a protein specific to the heart. Photo: Konrad Gös, Heidelberg
Hello…Hugo Katus, professor at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Heidelberg. You were the first to identify troponin T as a protein specific to the heart and have conducted ground-breaking research on the cardiac cell protein. What does it mean to you to receive an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine at Uppsala University?
“It is definitely a great honour and I am very grateful for this prestigious distinction. Uppsala University is one of the leading universities in Europe and the cardiovascular group at the Faculty of Medicine at Uppsala University is highly respected globally for their important contributions in innovative clinical research, their integrative leadership in high-quality randomised trials and registries, and their many valuable contributions to the cardiac community, including their activities in several committees of the European Society of Cardiology. Thus, this is a wonderful acknowledgement by a renowned medical faculty which I do accept with pride and gratitude.”
What is your relationship with Uppsala University?
“My relationship with Uppsala University derives from my professional life as a clinical cardiologist and translational scientist and originates exclusively from my interactions with colleagues at the Uppsala Cardiology Department and the Uppsala Clinical Research Center.”
Tell us about your collaboration with researchers at Uppsala University.
“We – that is, specifically, the biomarker research group at our Department of Cardiology at Heidelberg University – share the interest in cardiac biomarker research and have therefore cooperated with the Uppsala team in the evaluation of novel cardiac biomarkers and in clinical trials in acute coronary syndrome patients for more than 25 years. In particular, I had many inspiring discussions with Lars Wallentin at Uppsala Cardiology Department and Clinical Research Center and learned from his experienced leadership in clinical trials. Our trustful and fruitful scientific cooperation also included Bertil Lindahl, Stefan James and Kai Eggers, to name a few, who made notable contributions to the biomarker and clinical research fields. In the course of these 25 years a relationship developed with the Uppsala team based not only on successful scientific cooperation – more than 70 co-authored scientific manuscripts have come out of this cooperation between Uppsala and Heidelberg to date – but also on trust, open exchange and mutual support.
Secondly, the use of refined molecular testing, advanced clinical phenotyping and AI-based digital tools may enable us to make a reality of precision cardiology including personalised and cause-specific treatments.”
Åsa Malmberg
Honorary doctor at the Faculty of Medicine
From the award citation:
Hugo Katus’s pioneering contributions have played a key role in making troponin available for daily use as a routine test at all hospitals that provide care to patients with heart diseases throughout the world. Katus’s innovative discoveries and the collaboration with his research group have had a major influence on the development of research on troponin and other heart markers at the Department of Medical Sciences in Uppsala.
Honorary doctorate lectures 25/1
Open lectures with the honorary doctors at the Faculty of Medicine: Edith Heard, Peter Visscher and Hugo Katus, are to be held 25/1 at 13.00–15.00 at BMC, E10:1309, SciLifeLab Navet, entrance C11.
Learn more about the honorary doctorate lectures at the Faculty of Medicine