In memoriam Jesper Jurlander 1962 – 2010
ERIC joins the CLL world and Nordic colleagues in mourning the death of Jesper Jurlander, a greatly esteemed colleague
With the sudden death of Jesper Jurlander at the age of 47, Danish and European hematology has lost one of its most talented researchers.
Following basic education in medicine and hematology at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Jesper continued his scientific training at Roswell Park Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York under the guidance of Michael Caligiuri and Clara Bloomfield, with a focus on chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Jesper was awarded his Ph.D. degree at the University of Copenhagen 1998 for his thesis: The cellular biology of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 1998; 27:29-52), recognized now as highly visionary review. Subsequently, he was part of the Danish team that discovered the CLL specific gene CLLU1, the Nordic Scan-CLL team that is currently mapping genetic changes in CLL with advanced array-based technology, and the broader European research team characterizing immunoglobulin genes in CLL within the frame of ERIC.
Being abundantly gifted and having a great appetite for life, he contributed generously in all aspects, as a member of research teams, when recruiting and guiding younger scientists, in treating individual patients, in leading the Leukemia Clinic at the Department of Hematology at Rigshospitalet and in taking work-demanding offices in scientific as well as social societies. Patients and staff appreciated his confidence and calming presence. Jesper was extremely open-minded, non-judgmental and his loyalty was infallible. Not surprisingly, Jesper was also a great humanist with a broad based cultural life, spanning from being in the audience to the entire week-long Copenhagen performance of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, to being a hard core supporter of the Copenhagen Football Club, rarely failing to attend a home match. His home in central Copenhagen with his first wife Birgit, was the scene of many wonderful gatherings of family, friends and colleagues. Jesper had happily just begun a new chapter of his life with his new wife Pernille. His sudden death occurred with unbelievable cruelty only few hours after the birth of his 4th child.
A great man and the dearest of friends has passed away. Our deepest compassion goes to Jesper’s 3 older children, Daniel, Rebecca and Estrid, to Pernille and newborn Andreas.
We honour his memory
Anne Mette Buhl
Eva Kimby
Christian Geisler
