Dr. Lena Holmdahl
The IAS regrets to announce the death of IAS medical advisory board member Lena E. Holmdahl., MD, PhD at the age of 57 on December 24, 2011 at her home in Grafton, MA after a brave battle with brain cancer for 28 months.
Lena was a great friend of the IAS and participated in our symposium held in 2001. Lena was born in Lerum, Sweden and graduated from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden where she earned her MD and PhD. She practiced colo-rectal surgery in Sweden for almost twenty years, and conducted important experimental and clinical research in adhesions earning her the respect of colleagues internationally and recognition as one of the world's experts on adhesions.
Lena continued to sponsor a laboratory at the University of Gothenburg and mentor PhD students even after her 2001 move to Genzyme Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she headed the Therapeutic Group of the Bio-Surgery Division.
Some of her earlier work focused on the adverse effects that surgical glove powder has on adhesions as in this 1997 paper - " <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9195175> Mechanisms of adhesion development and effects on wound healing, 1997".
A great deal of her research focused on how the biology of the peritoneum is affected by surgery and why adhesions form. Some examples of this work include:
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9076449> The role of fibrinolysis in adhesion formation, 1997
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19670975> The peritoneal fibrinolytic response to conventional and laparoscopic colonic surgery, 2009.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12390393> Peritoneal response to pneumoperitoneum and laparoscopic surgery, 2002.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11730753> Expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-1) and tissue inhibitor of MMP in serosal tissue of intraperitoneal organs and adhesions, 2001.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10232305> Making and covering of surgical footprints, 1999.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9823923> Tissue markers as predictors of postoperative adhesions, 1998.
Her later work at Genzyme focused on the development and use of Seprafilm. A selection of over 50 scientific articles authored by Lena can be <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&cmd=DetailsSearch&term=% 22Holmdahl+L%22%5bAuthor%5d+AND+(adhesions+OR+peritone*+OR+powder+OR+seprafi lm)&save_search=true> found here, in addition to the many book chapters and presentations at medical and scientific conferences.
A summary of Lena's presentation at our 2001 meeting can be found in <http://www.adhesions.org/images/IASNEWS01.pdf> our 2001 newsletter and her lecture on "Advances in the Understanding of Adhesions" can be found within our <http://www.adhesions.org/whatsnew.htm#tapes> conference tapes.
The world's knowledge about adhesions and why they form is all the more advanced because of Dr. Lena Holmdahl. We send our condolences to her family and many friends.
David Wiseman