Inaugural lecture for Kristine Færch, Alicia Lundby, and Morten S. Olesen
The Department would like to invite everyone to celebrate the appointment of professors Kristine Færch, Alicia Lundby, and Morten S. Olesen on 4 March 2022.
There are only a few things not affected by the covid-19 pandemic, and the traditional inaugural lectures for newly appointed professors are no exception. At the Department of Biomedical Sciences, we are due three inaugural lectures from professors Alicia Lundby, Morten S. Olesen, and Kristine Færch.
Therefore, the Department would like to invite everyone to celebrate the appointments of our new professors with three inaugural lectures followed by a grand celebration.
The three inaugural lectures will be held 4 March from 16.00 to 18.00 in both the Haderup Auditorium and the Holst Auditorium. See text box for exact schedule.
Afterwards, the Department of Biomedicines invites you to a reception and festive Friday Bar in the Faculty Club with plenty of sparkling wine, a bit of food and other beverages.
We look forward to celebrating with you.
Kristine Færch: Prediabetes: Paradigm or Paradox
Main research area: Kristine Færch has focused her research on the disease mechanisms behind pre-diabetes and early phases of type 2 diabetes with special emphasis on heterogeneity in the development of type 2 diabetes. Together with colleagues, Kristine Færch has shown that type 2 diabetes is not just one disease, but that the disease can be divided into sub-groups based on different diagnostic criteria. Kristine Færch has managed to apply a wide range of research methods to reveal disease mechanisms and evaluate effects of interventions, and she has always had a strong focus on the consequences of her research for clinical practice and the end user.
Educational and professional background: Kristine Færch has a Master’s in Human Nutrition from the University of Copenhagen (2004). In 2008, she defended her PhD thesis on ‘Pathophysiology and aetiology of impaired fasting glycaemia and impaired glucose tolerance’. Since 2003, Kristine Færch has been employed at Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, and in November 2019 she was appointed as Research Leader. She was appointed professor in 2020.
Morten S. Olesen: Genetics of cardiovascular disease
Main research area: Morten S. Olesen has a broad interest in cardiovascular diseases and how genetic can be used to understand diseases. A longstanding research focus has been on atrial fibrillation and its implication for cardiovascular health. Morten S. Olesen and colleagues have identified several genes that predispose for atrial fibrillation. These genes have been studied in animal models to translate the finding into plausible pathophysiological mechanisms of the how these genes lead to disease. Some key questions in the Cardiovascular Genetic Group are why some people develop arrhythmia, syncope or side effects of drugs.
Educational and professional background: Morten Salling Olesen has a Master’s in Molecular Biology and Sports Physiology from the University of Copenhagen. In 2011, he defended his PhD thesis on ‘Early onset lone Atrial Fibrillation: a genetic disease?’. From 2008 to 2015, he worked at The Heart Centre where he went on to be Assistant Professor and Head of the Laboratory for Molecular Cardiology. Since 2015, he has been at the Department of Biomedical Sciences where he is now leading the Cardiovascular Genetic Group. In 2021, he was appointed professor.
Alicia Lundby: Global analyses of Molecular remodeling in cardiac disease
Main research area: The research of Alicia Lundby and her team is focused on the molecular landscape of our heart, with emphasis on proteins, and how this is altered consequent to cardiac disease. The
strategies applied to improve our understanding of the molecular changes in cardiac disease states are centred on global analyses quantifying abundance and regulation of thousands of cardiac proteins by mass spectrometry based proteomics investigations. The global, unbiased approaches to identify molecular fingerprints of a cardiac disease are subsequently evaluated in specific follow-up experiments. Alicia Lundby is widely recognized for her contributions to the field of cardiac proteomics allowing for data-driven approaches to identify novel regulations underlying cardiac disease remodeling.
Educational and professional background: Alicia Lundby holds a M.Sc. Degree in Physics-Biophysics (2006) and a Ph.D. degree in Health and Medical Sciences (2009) from The University of Copenhagen. As a student and as postdoctoral fellow she trained at University of California San Diego (USA), RIKEN Brain Science Institute (Japan) and at The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (USA). She was appointed Associate Professor at The University of Copenhagen in 2015.