In Memoriam Professor Peter M. Laurberg

met a colleague from Iceland, who became a good friend and with whom he entered a prosperous research collaboration studying the consequences of differences in iodine intake between Denmark and Iceland for the prevalence of various thyroid diseases [2] . These studies, as well as many of Peter’s later publications, earned international recognition and praise and to this day influence guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of several thyroid conditions. One of Peter’s pivotal achievements was heading the national iodine fortification programme, which, through his and the DanThyr group’s relentless Professor and Chief Physician, DMSc Peter M. Laurberg, Aalborg, Denmark, has died aged 71 years. Peter Laurberg was born in Aalborg, Denmark, just after the Second World War. After graduating from high school in 1964 he enrolled at the medical school of the Aarhus University and graduated in 1971. He then served as a sergeant in the Royal Danish Navy in 1972. After his initial clinical training at several departments of internal medicine at the Aarhus University Hospital, he started as research fellow at the Department of Medical Endocrinology in the same hospital. Here he laid the foundation for his impressive scientific career. In 1980 Peter defended his thesis entitled: ‘Iodothyronine release from the perfused canine thyroid’ [1] . He became a specialist in internal medicine and medical endocrinology and subsequently returned to his home city, Aalborg, as Head of the Department of Endocrinology in March 1989. His wife and life-long companion Grete accompanied him and established her own specialist dermatology practice. Peter was professor in internal medicine, first at Aarhus University, later at Aalborg University. From his early clinical days on, he was an excellent clinician and simultaneously managed to be the driving force in several research areas. In the early days of his clinical training he Published online: September 2, 2016