Natalia Dovlatova: Celebrating Stan Heptinstall and His Legacy in Platelet Science
Natalia Dovlatova, CEO at Platelet Services, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Last week there was a very special event.
I attended the Platelet Meeting in Reading – an important scientific event for UK-based platelet research groups.
My first Platelet meeting was also in Reading, exactly 20 years ago and it was great to see how the platelet community is growing stronger, sustaining high-quality research and supporting younger scientists, thanks to all the great work of The Platelet Society.
And it was wonderful to be there for Stan’s lecture as he received the Gustav Born Award for his outstanding contribution to platelet science. In his talk Stan was on top of all the science, historical and new, and just as charismatic and entertaining as he has always been.
His achievements span from publishing the mechanistic rationale for using low-dose aspirin for cardiovascular prevention, to being the founding Editor-in-Chief of Platelets Journal and establishing Erfurt Platelet Meetings in 1983.
These meetings supported communication between scientists in the West and East, at a time when the latter were not able to travel beyond East Germany. The Erfurt Meetings made an incredible contribution not only to the progress of platelet science, but also the lives and careers of many scientists.
Thanks to these my supervisor and colleagues in Moscow met Stan, and later I had the chance to meet him and his wife, Lillian, at a conference in St Petersburg in 2004.
I consider myself incredibly lucky to have done my PhD in his group, where there was always a strong focus on translational research, which shaped my career path.
With a degree in medicine, I’ve always gravitated to applied research – whether it was the development of an in vitro diagnostic or, as it is now, supporting the development of new therapies.
Platelet Services is certainly the legacy of Nottingham Platelet Group built by Stan.
We had recently met up with the group at Stan’s 80th birthday celebration in August and it was particularly substantial and touching seeing him back at the Platelet Meeting reflecting on his career. Certain people manage to touch the lives of others in so many ways. Stan is definitely one of them.
Congratulations, Stan Heptinstall, and thank you for the science, the inspiration, and the many lives and careers you have influenced along the way.”
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