Ab Osterhaus

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Albert Osterhaus
TiHo Hannover
Doctoral advisorMarian Horzinek

Albertus Dominicus Marcellinus Erasmus "Ab" Osterhaus (born 2 June 1948) is a leading Dutch

H5N1, the pathogen that causes avian influenza
.

Life

Osterhaus was born into a

cum laude in 1974. He then obtained his PhD
degree at the same university in 1978 with a dissertation entitled Feline infectious peritonitis: identification, propagation and epidemiology.

He fulfilled several positions in his 16-year career at the

Immunobiology
. During that period he was also a part-time Professor of Environmental Virology at the Institute for Virology in Utrecht, a position he still holds as of 2009. In 1993, he became Professor of Virology at the Medical Faculty of University and also head of the Department of Virology at
TiHo in Hannover
, Germany. He also holds a position at Artemis BV in Utrecht.

Osterhaus played an important role in the identification of the

SARS coronavirus. In February 2004, his team found that Pegylated interferon alpha, a drug used for the treatment of patients with Hepatitis C, helps combat the virus that causes SARS
.

Osterhaus holds various editorial positions for scientific journals, holds several patents, has been supervisor of more than 40 PhD students and has identified more than a dozen “new” viral pathogens[1] and he is author of more than 1000 scientific papers, including journals like Nature, Science and The Lancet.[2] Osterhaus served as member and chairman of many international scientific committees, most notably four WHO reference centres, the Dutch Influenza Centre, the

Dutch Health Council
and the European Scientific Working group on Influenza (ESWI).

Honours and awards

Osterhaus received several awards in his life, including the Dutch "

triennially (before 2014, and now awarded biennially) by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998.[3] He is also a Member of Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) since 2001.[4]

On 15 October 2003 Osterhaus was knighted as

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.[8]

Criticism

Osterhaus has been criticised for what has been described as a 'fear campaign', for exaggerating the consequences of the

Tamiflu to everyone and the virus has not mutated into something much more dangerous."[9] Osterhaus claimed he has not exaggerated the risks. During debate 'De Kwestie live' he said "I have named a wide spectrum of possibilities and minister Ab Klink decided to go for the worst-case scenario" [9][10]

In September 2009, a controversy arose when it became known Osterhaus has a 9.8% share in ViroClinics B.V, a pharmaceutical company that supposedly benefits from the 34 million vaccines

Health minister Ab Klink
bought based on his advice as government consultant. Osterhaus maintains he did nothing against the law and that he does not personally benefit from the order.

References

  1. ^ a b "Dr. Albert Osterhaus". ESWI. Archived from the original on 2009-12-13. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  2. ^ Scholtens, Broer (2009-02-10). "De David Beckham van de virologie" (in Dutch). De Volkskrant.
  3. ^ "M.W. Beijerinck Virologie Prijs" (in Dutch). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  4. ^ "Ab Osterhaus" (in Dutch). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Dr. Saal van Zwanenberg Prijzen" (in Dutch). Saal van Zwanenberg Foundation. Archived from the original on 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  6. ^ "Medailles en onderscheidingen" (in Dutch). University of Amsterdam. Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  7. ^ "Grand Prix scientifique voor prof.dr. Ab Osterhaus" (in Dutch). Erasmus University Rotterdam. 2007-06-04. Archived from the original on 2009-09-19. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  8. ^ "Albert Osterhaus". German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. ^ a b "'Ab Osterhaus is paniekzaaier'" (in Dutch). Erasmus Magazine. 2009-09-29. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  10. ^ "Overheid moet internet slimmer inzetten bij vaccinatie-campagne" (in Dutch). Erasmus Magazine. 2009-09-25. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-10-02.

External links

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