Obituary
Uwe Heinemann
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Uwe Heinemann on the 8th
of September, 2016. This is a great loss to the community, and is deeply felt by all
his friends, co-workers and colleagues.
Uwe Heinemann has been one of the most outstanding and influential researchers in
the field of epilepsy world-wide. He has been a force in this field for almost five
decades, starting with his early research with Otto Creutzfeldt on mechanisms of EEG,
and his postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in the Department
of Neurophysiology in Martinsried in the 1970s. In this time, he has made uncounted
seminal scientific contributions to the field, which have frequently triggered new
directions in both in neuroscience and epilepsy research.
Uwe has been a substantial force in shaping neuroscience research on many other levels.
First and foremost, he has had a remarkable ability to convey his fascination with
the field of neuroscience, and in particular epilepsy to students and young researchers.
Young researchers from Finland, Israel, France, Belgium, Holland, England, Ireland,
Russia and many other Countries have been students, researchers or guests in his laboratory.
An unusually large number of these have gone on to obtain faculty positions at prestigious
institutions. Additionally, Uwe had a remarkable commitment to teaching. He has always
been very active in making the science behind epilepsy accessible to patients, students,
neurologists and laypersons. He not only gave innumerable lectures, but also reformed
or initiated numerous teaching programs, including medical studies, local and international
neuroscience graduate schools and training centers.
Uwe was a member of numerous commissions and governing bodies, from within which he
has given numerous impulses that have shaped the field. These included the Commission
on Neurobiology and Epilepsy and the Long Term Planning Commission of the International
League Against Epilepsy, Advisory Board for the European Academy of Epilepsy, European
Epilepsy Congress, European Neuroscience Conference and the Biannual Cogress of the
ILAE. He was past president of the German Epilepsy Society (1993–1995), and honorary
member of the society since 2012. He was also a reviewing editor for E-neuro, and
an associate editor for the Journal of Neuroscience. He was central to scientific
review as a member of the ERC Panel Neuroscience and a member of numerous review panels
of the German Research Foundation (DFG). He was also one of the initiators of the
Workshop on Neurobiology of the Epilepsies, which has gone on to become one of the
most influential think tanks in epilepsy research today. The scientific excellence
and integrative personality of Uwe Heinemann has been internationally recognized with
numerous awards, for instance the international Michael Prize for Epilepsy Research
(1979 and 1987), the Alfred Hauptmann Prize (1988), the Ambassador for Epilepsy Award
(1989), the Basic Science AES Award (1992), and the European Epilepsy Award (2008).
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, Uwe was beloved by many for his unfailing loyalty
and supportiveness, an unstinting generosity towards colleagues and his scientific
progeny. His scientific curiosity, his enthusiasm, his encyclopedic knowledge, and
his honest delight in well-performed science was an example for a whole cohort of
neuroscientists. Invariably, the numerous Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, guests
and collaborators speak fondly of their time in Uwe's laboratory, and the lifelong
relationships that followed. Many of us in the field owe him much, both personally
and professionally.
He will be missed by many. Uwe is survived by his wife Marianne, his daughter Daniela
and his grandson Joel. Our thoughts are with them.
