Dear Colleagues,

Terrible news has reached us. On March 22, 2011, one of our good friends and colleagues, Jürg Tschopp, has passed away by a cardiac attack when he was skiing together with his family.

Jürg Tschopp received his PhD in biophysics at the University of Basel in 1979. He then joined the group of Müller-Eberhard at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. In 1982, he was appointed assistant professor at the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Lausanne, where he was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1989. Since 2003, he was co-director of the Department of Biochemistry. His research focuses on signaling pathways that control apoptosis and inflammation.

Jürg was one of those exceptional scientists who had an enormous impact on the research field by highly original contributions, new concepts, very clear and didactical presentations, critical discussions. Many of his findings opened new avenues in both basic research and clinical applications, being one of the most cited and respected researchers in the field of cell death and inflammation. Jürg was very accessible, helpful, and a cordial person. He received several Awards and recognitions, among which the ECDO Career Award for Excellence in Cell Death Research (2006).

He will remain in our memory by all contributions he made and the concepts that he introduced. The scientific community will miss him. A great personality has passed away.

The ECDO board