Estonian Academy of Sciences elected three new members yesterday. The general assembly elected Pärt Peterson, Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Tartu as a member of the academy in the field of biomedicine.
In his research, Peterson seeks to understand how the immune system can develop tolerance against its own organism while fighting pathogens. In recent years, his research group has studied ageing-related changes in the immune system. Since 2020, Peterson has published research on SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19.
Mare Kõiva, Leading Research Fellow and Head of the Department of Folkloristics at the Estonian Literary Museum, was elected as a member of the academy in ethnology and folkloristics, and Maarja Grossberg-Kuusk, Director of the Department of Materials and Environmental Technology, Tenured Full Professor at Tallinn University of Technology as a member of the academy in the field of engineering.
The election of new academy members was announced in June, and 12 candidates were submitted. To be elected a member, the candidate needs to receive 2/3 of the votes of the academicians present at the meeting.
Together with the new members, the Estonian Academy of Sciences has now 76 members.
More information is available on the Estonian Academy of Sciences website (in Estonian).