Lasse Ebdrup Pedersen: Causes of arteriosclerosis – the leading cause of death in the Western world
PhD defence, Monday 30 April 2012. Lasse Ebdrup Pedersen.
During the course of his PhD studies, Lasse Ebdrup Pedersen carried out research into the causes of arteriosclerosis – hardening of the arteries.
Arteriosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the Western world and is particularly common among smokers and people suffering from diabetes. Lasse Ebdrup Pedersen studied the role of an increased level of phosphate in the blood as a cause of arteriosclerosis. He compared the atherosclerotic process in arteries with the normal calcification process in bones. An increased level of phosphate can be due to factors such as kidney disease, and it is a strong prognostic indicator of disease and death.
Lasse Ebdrup Pedersen’s results contribute to an understanding of how the interaction between the smooth musculature in blood vessels and the increased level of phosphate can lead to arteriosclerosis, and which mechanisms the body uses to counteract arteriosclerosis, as well as the way bones and arteries make use of the same calcification mechanisms.
The PhD degree was completed at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University.
Time: Monday 30 April 2012 at 13.00
Place: Natural History Museum, building 1212, room 001, Department of Bioscience
Title of dissertation: Comparison of the effects of elevated inorganic phosphate on primary human vascular smooth muscle cells and the pre-osteoblastic cell line MC3T3-E1
Contact information: Lasse Ebdrup Pedersen, lep@mb.au.dk, +45 5150 1624
Members of the assessment committee:
Professor João Ricardo Mendes de Oliveira, Federal University of Pernambuco (Biotechnology), Brazil
Professor Henrik Daa Schrøder, Department of Clinical Pathology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark
Associate Professor Ernst-Martin Füchtbauer (chair), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Main supervisor:
Lecturer Lene Pedersen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University
Language: The dissertation will be defended in English
The defence is public.
The dissertation is available for reading at the Graduate School of Science and Technology / GSST, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, room 112, 8000 Aarhus C.