Hanne Scholz, Norway

Hanne Scholz (MSc, Ph.D.) is a Senior Researcher and Director of the Islet Isolation Facility at the Oslo University Hospital, Norway. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Bioengineering from Bergen College of Engineering (1994), an MSc in Human Physiology from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (2000) from the University of Oslo, and a doctoral degree from the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine (2006).

Dr. Scholz leads a significant research program within the Department of Transplantation and the Institute for Surgical Research, aiming to improve and optimize the islet isolation procedure, beta cell replacement therapy, and patient outcomes. Dr.  Scholz is the vice director of the Centre of Excellence for Organ-on-chip at the University of Oslo, which aims to develop such platforms of functional metabolic human tissue. The Scholz lab has led to multiple publications involving regenerative medicine projects, such as developing new cellular therapies for diabetes using stem cells and 3D bio-printing biomimetic pancreatic islets. Her research program is highly multidisciplinary and comprises clinicians, transplant surgeons, technicians, postdoctoral researchers, and students in different disciplines. 

Dr. Scholz is Secretary of the International Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Association (IPITA – 2021-2025) and Councilor of the European Society of Organ Transplantation (ESOT – 2019-2023), co-chair of the Nordic Network for Clinical Islet Transplantation, and member of the Oslo Diabetes Research Centre.