ENG
On Tuesday December 2, Charles University awarded the academic title of doctor honoris causa to two prominent figures in global medicine: cardiologist Professor Béla Péter Merkely and virologist Professor Marc Van Ranst.
Professor of medicine and Rector of Semmelweis University in Budapest, Béla Péter Merkely is one of the world’s leading cardiologists. Dean of the Third Faculty of Medicine Petr Widimský said that the “broad range of his clinical capabilities in very unique and confirms his exceptional status as highly expert medical doctor with a wide interdisciplinary reach”. He also mentioned their personal ties: “I have known professor Merkely for more than 20 years from our joint activities in the European Society of Cardiology. I admire Béla Merkely for his exceptional hard work in clinical medicine, in teaching and in research. I also want to underline his hard work to promote the Central and East European cardiology in the world heart research arena.” According to Petr Widimský, Béla Merkely deserves the title also due to his excellent cooperation with the Cardiocenter of the Third Faculty of Medicine, but also his cooperation with other medical faculties of Charles University.
Professor Merkely opened his speech by quoting Prague-born biochemist Gerty Cori, the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: “I believe that in art and science are the glories of the human mind”. He praised the long-standing connection, cooperation, and friendship between the two universities. He also spoke at length about the dean of the Third Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Petr Widimský, who nominated him for this award, and how much inspiration and motivation Widimský had given him. For Merkely, Petr Widimský is “an iconic, pioneering figure in cardiovascular medicine, but also my personal role model”. Merkely is particularly grateful to Widimský for making it possible to conduct cutting-edge cardiovascular science and practice in Central Europe. This is surely one of the reasons why Merkely himself presented Widimský with the Semmelweis Budapest Award seven years ago.
Professor Merkely also thanked his family, present in the Great Hall, for their unwavering support and love, without which his scientific, pedagogical, and medical practice would not have been possible. The award of a Charles University honorary doctorate, he said, is for him not only a recognition for his past achievements, but also a commitment for the future – particularly in the cooperation between the two institutions.
An honorary doctorate in natural sciences was also awarded to Marc Van Ranst, Professor of Virology at the University of Leuven, Belgium, for his extraordinary contributions to the fields of virology and public health. A world-renowned virologist and epidemiologist, he contributed significantly to the introduction of HPV detection and typing into routine diagnostics, which today forms the basis of cervical cancer screening programs. His laboratory also obtained the first complete sequence of the human coronavirus genome. His research in the field of rotaviruses has significantly contributed to reducing the incidence of rotavirus infections and improving the health of the child population across the globe.
Since 1995, Marc Van Ranst teaches a Bioinformatics course at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Charles University. As Interministerial Commissioner for Influenza, he was responsible for the influenza pandemic preparations in Belgium as well as crisis management during the Swine Flu pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was a key government advisor and provided expert recommendations for combating the infection, participated in testing, contact tracing, and vaccination strategies, and regularly informed the public about the epidemiological situation.
Dean of the Faculty of Science Vladimír Krylov emphasised that “Prof. Van Ranst has a long-standing close relationship with research groups and students at the Faculty of Science of Charles University. While studying the genetic information of viruses and their continuous mutations, Prof. Marc Van Ranst realised and predicted the enormous importance of bioinformatics as early as the 1990s. His pioneering course ‘Computational Genomics,’ which he began teaching at the Faculty of Science of Charles University in 1995, was the first bioinformatics course in the Czech Republic and one of the first worldwide.”
In his speech, which he opened with a few sentences in Czech, Professor Van Ranst mentioned many friends he has made in the Czech Republic over the years. He also mentioned the Student Giant Salamander Award for the best teacher at the Faculty of Science, which he received thirty years ago and still has on display at home.
He also addressed the increasingly threatened role of science and academia: “Universities must remain beacons of light, but we can’t speak softly against those who actively reject truth or try to silence scholars and scientists. We must stand with absolute clarity and unwavering resolve”. Professor Van Ranst, who also has extensive experience in communicating scientific results to the media, added that “Science communication is now – when misinformation spreads faster than any virus – more important than ever. It is not a luxury, but a lifeline.” And an integral part of science as such: “Science must not only be done; it must be felt, heard, and believed.”
Text: Jan Borek
Photo: Vladimír Šigut