Professor Melissa Helen Little inaugurated at University of Copenhagen
On March 24, Professor Melissa Helen Little was inaugurated at the University of Copenhagen.
Bente Stallknecht, Dean at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, hosted the ceremony. Closing remarks were made by Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. They referred to Melissa as a huge inspiration to all of us, as well as emphasising how unique it is what we have achieved as a consortium thus far, with more to come.
During the inauguration, Melissa Little presented her lecture entitled: Rebuilding the human kidney from stem cells: a journey from basic science to targeted research.
‘As a fundamental researcher, I am in awe of developmental biology and what it can tell us about both normal development and disease,’ said Professor Little, ‘But my career journey pivoted when I asked myself the question ‘how can I make a difference for society?’
Melissa is driving her research towards outcomes using kidney organoids to develop drugs for inherited kidney disease and tissue engineering to tackle renal replacement.
reNEW Copenhagen celebrated the inauguration after the ceremony with a reception.