Public lecture by Honorary Doctors Ewan Birney and Mart Saarma

University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science invites you to participate in the public lecture delivered by two world-leading scientists, honorary doctors of the University of Tartu. 

• Prof. Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General EMBL & Director EMBL-EBI: "Big data in biology; EMBL's role and what the pandemic has taught us".
• Prof. Mart Saarma, Research Director, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki: "Life and death in the nervous system“.

Ewan Birney has largely contributed to the development of bioinformatics and genomics globally, promoted the international renown of researchers of the University of Tartu and Estonia and formed the new generation of Estonian bioinformatics researchers. He has collaborated with several Estonian researchers at the EMBL-EBI, in joint EU research projects and the bioinformatics infrastructure ELIXIR. This has brought many new contacts and development opportunities to Estonian researchers. He has also helped Estonian research find recognition in bioinformatics tools, genomics, and personalised medicine. The international reputation, renown and visibility of Estonia and the University of Tartu in bioinformatics and genomics have significantly increased thanks to good cooperation with Ewan Birney.

Professor Saarma is a very reputable researcher who has been constantly at the forefront of science. He has a background in molecular neuroscience and has recently investigated the biology of neurotrophic factors and their therapeutic applications. 
Cooperation with the University of Tartu has had a special place in Professor Saarma's activities. He has repeatedly given lectures at the University of Tartu Faculty of Medicine and chairs the international scientific advisory board of the Centre of Excellence for Genomics and Translational Medicine of the University of Tartu. His cooperation with the University of Tartu Institute of Chemistry, especially with Prof. Mati Karelson and Prof. Jaanus Harro, is also important, focusing on the development and research of new GDNF mimetics. It is safe to say that without Mart Saarma's contribution as a partner, educator, consultant and spokesperson for our researchers, the University of Tartu would not be such a well-known and highly recognised centre of genomics and personalised medicine in Europe today.

The event takes place on Thursday, 26 May at 16:00 in the University of Tartu Delta Centre. If you're coming to the lecture, attend also the Facebook event. The event is organised by the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science. 

More information: Prof. Jaak Vilo, Head of the Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, +372 504 9365, jaak.vilo@ut.ee.

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