Pärt Peterson elected as new head of the Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine

Pärt Peterson says that it is the people who make up the institute. “Our activities must continue to be sustainable. To that end, we need to think about the future and involve the younger generation. It is important to take note of changes in research funding and focus on major common themes that would carry weight in achieving societal goals. Also, our institute has the unique task of providing pre-clinical medical training in Estonia and ensuring its quality.”

Peterson believes the institute should continue its activities following its current principles: research teams and departments are autonomous, and the head of the institute’s task is to balance the views. “The institute is a living organism which has to keep pace with and change in time. The changes should be gradual.”

Pärt Peterson graduated from the University of Tartu, Department of Biology, in 1991 and defended his doctoral thesis at Tampere University in 1996. Since 2008, she has been Professor of Molecular Immunology. His main research interests include genes involved in autoimmunity, thymic differentiation, immune tolerance, T cell selection and DNA methyltransferases. Peterson is a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences.

Professor Pärt Peterson’s term of office as the head of the institute started on 1 January 2025 and will run until 31 December 2027.