Paul M. Vanhoutte

Professor Paul M. Vanhoutte One of the world's leading pharmacologists, Paul M. Vanhoutte, died due to sequelae after an accidental fall. Although he had been seriously ill for a couple of years, his sudden death was unexpected and a shock to his family, friends and his many colleagues worldwide. Paul was born in Belgium and spanning nearly 60 years, he had an amazing scientific and professional career in public universities and in the private sector in five different continents. He obtained his Bachelor, Master of Science and Medical degrees at the University of Gent and his PhD at the University of Antwerp. He became an assistant at the University of Gent 1969-1971 and a research associate at the Mayo Clinic 1972-1973. Back in Belgium at the University of Antwerp, he was the first associate professor, then full professor and head of the Department of Pharmacology 1973-1981. He moved back to the Mayo Clinic to become a professor of physiology and pharmacology from 1981 to 1989 and subsequently Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas as a professor of medicine, pharmacology and physiology and a director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics from 1989 to 1995. He then returned to Europe to become vice-president of research and development and director of discovery research at the Institute de Recherche Internationale Servier in Paris between 1992 and 2002. From 2003 to 2006, he was distinguished visiting professor and director/founder of the Biopharmaceutical Development Centre, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. From 2006 to 2011, he was the head of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy at the University of Hong Kong; from 2009 to 2015, he was a chair professor, and since 2015 until his death he was a permanent visiting professor in the same department. Since 2003, he held a part-time position of professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. He was a visiting professor at the National University of Rwanda (1967), the Polish Academy of Sciences (1979), Chonbuk National University in Jeonju in South-Korea 2013-2016 and King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2013-2015. He was also an honorary professor at the Peking Union Medical College (Beijing), the Institute of Materia Medica of Beijing, the Ocean University of Qingdao, the Second Military Medical University in Shanghai and the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. At his death, he was still iconic visiting professor at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur and a visiting professor at the University of Zurich. Paul was a member of the Academia Europea, the Académie Nationale de Pharmacie in Paris and the two Belgian Academies of Medicine and an honorary member of the Brazilian Academy of Medicine. He was a member of the American Association of Physicians, the American Society of Physiology, the American Heart Association (Fellow), the American Society for Clinical Investigation (Emeritus), the American College of Cardiology (Fellow), the American College of Angiology (Fellow), the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the Belgian Society for Physiology and Pharmacology and the French Pharmacological Society. He was a member and past president of the Hong Kong Pharmacology Society. He was an honorary member or fellow of the Physiological Society in London, the British Pharmacological Society, the Chinese Pharmacological Society, the German Society of Angiology, the Société Française de Cardiologie and the European Society of Cardiology. He was the founder and past president of both the Serotonin Club (renamed as ‘International Society for Serotonin Research’) and of the Asian Society of Vascular Biology. From 1989 to 2007, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology. He was Associate Editor of the American Journal of Physiology (Heart and Circulatory Physiology), of News in Physiological Sciences and of the Journal of Vascular Medicine and Biology. He was a member of the editorial board of many scientific journals (eg Circulation, Circulation Research, Cardiovascular Research, Hypertension, Journal of Hypertension, American Journal of Physiology, Acta Sinica Pharmacologica, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics). He was a member, and the chairman, of the Program Project Review Committee of the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute of the NIH (Bethesda, MD, USA). He chaired the IUPHAR Committee for Receptor Nomenclature from 1989 to 1998. He was the secretary general of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) from 1998 to 2002 and President of the Union from 2002 to 2006. Paul wrote three theses. Paul received the Doctor Honoris Causa degree of the University of Gent in 2001, and honorary degrees from the universities of Antwerp, Montreal and Zurich in 2003, from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2005, from the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg in 2006, from the Gr T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi, Romania, in 2009, from Monash University in Melbourne in 2012 and from the University of Southern Denmark in Odense in 2016. Named lectures in his honour have been created by the American Society for Experimental Pharmacology and Therapeutics and by the International Society for Serotonin Research. His major scientific contribution has been to appreciate and analyse the importance of endothelial cells in the control of the underlying vascular smooth muscle in vascular health and disease and to highlight the complexity of that regulation. He co-authored or edited 36 books and published nearly 700 original research papers and nearly 600 editorials, reviews or chapters in books, the most recent one being in Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology in July 2019!.1 According to Web of Science (August 2019), his scientific papers have been cited nearly 63 000 times and his h-index was 121. Thus, he was a Highly Cited Researcher in three categories: biology and chemistry, pharmacology and in clinical medicine. Paul was an enormous help and a great support of the Danish Society for Pharmacology when we planned and organized the 16th World Congress on Basic and Clinical Pharmacology in Copenhagen in 2010. Paul was a frequent guest at the summer meetings of the Danish Cardiovascular Research Academy, Sandbjerg, Denmark. Also, at these meetings, Paul was dedicated in a gentle and constructive way in order to help and encourage young scientists as well as to educate and inspire his colleagues. More than this, Paul worked with and mentored hundreds, if not thousands of young, now senior, researchers, providing guidance and inspiration. His contribution to the discussions at conferences, symposia, workshops and laboratory meetings showed always a sharp mind with constructive and supportive critique. His global influence at the personal level on the development of pharmacology was incalculable. Indeed, it was probably these personal interactions that he most valued. In April 1966, Paul married Jacqueline Vandenberghe, and they had four children: Valerie, Jacqueline Jr, Paul Robert and Alexis and seven grand-children: Elina, Evita, Claire, Elio, Remi, Natalie and Katherine Emma. They have all lost a highly beloved husband, father and grandfather. We have lost a good friend, a very good colleague and a scientific role model. All honour to his memory.

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