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This issue of Thyroid International presents the proceedings
of the symposium Thyroid Hormone Metabolism and Action which is
held at the occasion of the 65th birthday of professor Georg
Hennemann. Jorg was born in 1932 in Bandung (Indonesia), studied
medicine at the University of Utrecht, and was trained in
Internal Medicine in Utrecht, Deventer and Leiden. In Utrecht he
investigated Bence Jones proteins in urine of patients with
Kahler's disease by electrophoresis, for which he received the
doctorate degree in 1963. Since 1967 Jorg has been associated
with the Department of Internal Medicine III at the Erasmus
University Medical School and Hospital Rotterdam, where he was
appointed Associate Professor in 1971 and Professor in Internal
Medicine in 1978. He has been deputy head of the Department of
Internal Medicine III between 1971 and 1992, and the founder and
head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine between 1971 and 1985.
Soon after arriving in Rotterdam, Jorg established a strong research line in the area of thyroid hormone transport and metabolism, in which we have had the fortune and privilege to participate since 1967 (RD), 1973 (TJV), 1975 (EPK) and 1985 (MdJ). Jorg has pioneered major developments in this area of thyroid hormone research. Among other things, he played a major role in the original characterization of the hepatic deiodinase catalyzing the conversion of T4 to T3. He discovered Familial Disalbuminemic Hyperthyroxinemia and his group identified the protein defect underlying this abnormality. Undoubtedly, his most important contribution has been the identification of cell membrane transporters in different tissues which are essential for tissue uptake of iodothyronines and for the regulation of thyroid hormone bioactivity. It is because of this work that it is now generally accepted that thyroid hormone does not enter cells by simple diffusion but requires active transport mechanisms. His studies have resulted in major progress in our understanding of the mechanism of the development of the "low T3 syndrome" in nonthyroidal illness. Jorg has served in many scientific organizations. He was a member of the Executive Committee (1977- 1981) and also the president (1991-1993) of the European Thyroid Association (ETA). He was the driving force behind the organization of the 14th Annual ETA Meeting in Rotterdam in 1984 as well as the 10th International Thyroid Congress in The Hague in 1991. We also like to mention Jorg's important role in the European Society for Clinical Investigation, in particular as treasurer (1974-1977), president (1977-1978) and organizer of the annual meetings (1973-1978). Jorg's scientific achievements have been recognized before by different associations. He has received different awards from the Dutch Society for Endocrinology, he was a recipient of the Paul Starr Award of the American Thyroid Association in 1989, he has been elected as Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians London (FRCP) and the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh (FRCPE) in 1992, and he received the ETA-Henning Prize this year. We have been very privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Jorg for such a long and pleasant time. Although Jorg officially retires, it is a great pleasure to know that our collaboration and friendship will continue. We are honoured by the fine contributions of the speakers on the symposium, who have been long-time friends of Jorg and the Rotterdam thyroid group. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Nourypharma BV without which the organization of this symposium would have been impossible. Roelof Docter, Marion de Jong, Eric P. Krenning, Theo J. Visser |
