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In memoriam: Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen
One of the founders of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences, Fellow Harald zur Hausen, Nobel Laureate in Medicine and longtime Chairman of the DKFZ/ Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Board of Directors, died last Sunday, May 28, at the age of 87.
Professor zur Hausen’s research on oncoviruses played a key role in the development of current days vaccine against cancer-causing human papillomaviruses. This scientific achievement has been translated to a global benefit for people and has made a significant contribution to cancer prevention. During Professor zur Hausen’s professional carrier he received numerous academic awards: nearly 40 honorary doctorates and several honorary professorships, as well the 2008 year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine, and the Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2019. Professor zur Hausen was a passionate scientist who tireless continued his research on the infectious causes of malignant tumors at the DKFZ in Heidelberg until the end. On behalf of the EACS, President Michael Baumann pays tribute to this outstanding scientist and regrets the loss of its EACS Fellow Harald zur Hausen.