Helga Margrét Ögmundsdóttir (born 1948) is a former professor at the University of Iceland.

Personal life

Helga Margrét Ögmundsdóttir was born in Reykjavik in 1948. Her father was Icelandic, and her mother was German. Helga's husband is Peter Holbrook, dentist and former professor, and they have two sons.

Professional experience

Helga graduated with a medical degree from the University of Iceland in 1975 and a PhD in immunology from the University of Edinburgh in 1979. After returning home in 1981 from studies and work in Edinburgh, she worked for the first few years in the Department of Virology at Landspitali University Hospital. Then, in 1987, the Icelandic Cancer Society appointed her to establish the Molecular and Cell Biology Research Laboratory, which she then directed along with Jórunn Erla Eyfjörð, molecular geneticist.[1] The laboratory moved to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Iceland in 2008. It is now called the Cancer Research Laboratory.[2]

From 2001, Helga was a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Iceland. She taught Icelandic medical students cell biology from 1986 until she stopped working in 2018. The last 20 years of her professional life, Helga focused on building up research training for master's and doctoral degrees at UI's Faculty of Medicine. During these years, the doctoral programme developed from being 1-3 dissertation defences per year to being well above 10 per year in 2018.[1]

Research

Helga engaged in research and teaching, but she was also involved in diverse administrative work in cancer research and research-related graduate studies.[3][4] Helga has been engaged in a variety of different research projects, starting from early research on innate immunity.[5] With the move to the Icelandic Cancer Society breast cancer became the main subject,[6][7][8][9][10] including studies on various aspects of cell biology and cytogenetics. She participated in international Biobank-based research on cancer causes.[11] Furthermore, projects linking immunology and malignancy by studying the genetic and biological basis of malignancies affecting antibody-producing cells.[12] Finally, in collaboration with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Kristín Ingólfsdóttir) and the Department of Chemistry, investigations on the effects of natural compounds (particularly lichen-derived and from marine invertebrates) and novel organometallic compounds on cancer cells.[13][14][15]

Awards

In 1999, Helga received Iceland's Order of the Falcon for her scientific work[16] and, in 2005, along with Jórunn Erla Eyfjörð, she was awarded the annual prize from the Ása Guðmundsdóttir Wright Memorial Fund.[17] In addition, in 2018 on its centenary, the Icelandic Medical Association honoured Helga for her work in building up research-related studies in the Faculty of Medicine.[18] The same year, a symposium was held in her honour on "Cancer Research and Quality in Graduate Studies".[19]

Other work

Helga was on the Executive Committee of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) for 10 years. She was its secretary from 1998 to 2004[20] and is an honorary member of the association. She chaired the Science Committee of the University of Iceland from 2006 to 2011[21] and was the rector's representative on Selection Committees for appointments to Academic positions from 2008 to 2014.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "University of Iceland. Helga M. Ögmundsdóttir. Professor Emerita. Curriculum vitae".
  2. ↑ Cancer Research Laboratory. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  3. ↑ University of Iceland. Helga Ögmundsdóttir. Professor Emerita. Published work. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  4. ↑ Google Scholar. Ogmundsdottir HM.
  5. ↑ Ögmundsdóttir, H.M. & Weir, D.M. (1980). Mechanisms of macrophage activation. Clin. exp. Immunol., 40, 223-234.
  6. ↑ Ögmundsdóttir, H.M, Pétursdóttir, I. & Guðmundsdóttir I. (1995) Interactions between the immune system and breast cancer. Acta Oncologica. 34, 647-650.
  7. ↑ Ásgeirsson KS, Jónasson JG, Tryggvadóttir L, Ólafsdóttir K, Sigurgeirsdóttir JR, Ingvarsson S, Ögmundsdóttir HM. 2000. Altered expression of E-cadherin in breast cancer: patterns, mechanisms and clinical significance. Eur J Cancer, 36, 1098-1106.
  8. ↑ Guðmundsdóttir I, Jónasson JG, Sigurðsson H, Ólafsdóttir K, Tryggvadóttir L, Ögmundsdóttir HM. 2000. Altered expression of HLA class I antigens in breast cancer: association with prognosis. Int J Cancer (Pred Oncol), 89, 500-505.
  9. ↑ Fridriksdottir AJR, Gudjonsson Th, Halldorsson Th, Björnsson J, Steinarsdottir M, Johannsson O Th, Ögmundsdottir HM.2005. Establishment of three human breast epithelial cell lines derived from carriers of the 999del5 BRCA2 Icelandic founder mutation. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim.41:337-342.
  10. ↑ Steinarsdottir M, Gudmundsson IH, Jonasson JG, Olafsdottir EJ, Eyfjörd JE, Ogmundsdottir HM. Cytogenetic polyclomality of breast carcinomas: Association with clrinico-pathological characteristics and outcome. Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2011 Nov;50(11):930-9.
  11. ↑ Pukkala, E. et al. (2009). Nordic biological specimen banks as basis for studies of cancer causes and control – more than 2 million sample donors, 25 million person years and 100 000 prospective cancers. Acta Oncologica, 46:3, 286-307.
  12. ↑ Steingrímsdóttir H, Einarsdóttir HK, Haraldsdóttir V, Ogmundsdóttir HM. Familial monoclonal gammopathy: hyper-responsive B cells in unaffected family members. Eur J Haematol. 2011;86(5):396-404.
  13. ↑ Bessadottir M, Egilsson M, Einarsdottir E, Magnusdottir IH, Ogmundsdottir MH, Omarsdottir S, Ogmundsdottir HM. Proton-Shuttling lichen compound usnic acid affects mitochondrial and lysosomal function in cancer cells. PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 December 2012 | Volume 7 | Issue 12 | e51296
  14. ↑ Bessadóttir M, Eiríksson FF, Becker S, Ögmundsdóttir MH, Ómarsdóttir S, Thorsteinsdóttir M, Ögmundsdóttir HM. Antproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of lichen-derived compound protolichesterinic acid are not mediated by its lipoxygenase-inhibitory activity. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2015 Jul;98:39-47.
  15. ↑ Vísindavefurinn. (2018). Hvað hefur vísindamaðurinn Helga Ögmundsdóttir rannsakað? Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  16. ↑ President of Iceland. Orðuhafaskrá. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  17. ↑ Vísindafélag Íslands. Ásusjóður. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  18. ↑ Læknafélag Íslands. (2018). Aðalfundur læknafélags Íslands. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  19. ↑ Háskóli Íslands. (2018). Krabbameinsrannsóknir og gæði framhaldsnáms – Málþing til heiðurs Helgu M. Ögmundsdóttur. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  20. ↑ Cancer Research Laboratory. Helga M. Ögmundsdóttir Archived 2019-07-31 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  21. ↑ Háskóli Íslands. Nefndir háskólaráðs. Starfsnefndir. Vísindanefnd – ársskýrslur vísindanefndar. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
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