From Central Office
Obituary - Anne Husebekk
Maria Therese Ahlen and Hans Erik Heier
Professor and Rector Emerita Anne Husebekk, who served as ISBT Vice President from 2008 to 2012, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones, on December 5, 2025, after a period of illness. Her funeral service was held at the Cathedral of Tromsø in Norway on what would have been her 70th birthday, December 15, 2025.
Prof. Husebekk, known simply as Anne to most who have worked with her, was born and raised in Oslo, in southern Norway, but moved to Tromsø in the high North in 1974 to study medicine. She never returned – as she lost her heart to the nature and the people of the north and to the new, northernmost university of the world, which was filled with enthusiasm, opportunities and ambitions. Here, she also met her husband Lars and formed their family. Anne specialized in Immunology and Transfusion medicine at the University Hospital North Norway, and soon showed herself as a true scientist within the field. She defended her Doctoral thesis in 1989 and then turned to platelet immunology research with focus on the pathogenesis and prevention of fetal/neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT). In 2002 she was appointed professor of immunology at the University of Tromsø (UiT) and served as the Head of Immunology research group for several years. She was a driving force in several important papers in this field, especially regarding potential screening of pregnant women, alloantibody quantitation as a risk-predicting tool and the later years towards potential prevention of alloimmunization by antibody-based prophylaxis.
She greatly enjoyed periods as a Visiting Scientist at National Institute of Health (NHI, MD USA 1991/92 and 1997/98), Institute Curie (Paris, France, 2003/2004) and Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen, Denmark, 2011). At these visits, she connected with experts in the field, educated herself and brought the knowledge and know-how home, to benefit both research environment as well as diagnostic testing and clinical treatments for patients in the north.
Within ISBT, Anne took on an important role in the Organisation Committee of the 25th International ISBT Congress in Oslo in 1998. Her main responsibility was to put together the «Cell therapy» section, demanding deep insight into what was back then an almost completely new part of our discipline. Anne remained committed to this field for years and was frequently also engaged as a national expert of «New Methods». She served as the ISBT Vice President in 2008-2012 and focused her work on the educational challenges of the ISBT. She was an excellent and systematic organizer and educator and provided much of the basis of the development leading to the ISBT Academy of today.
Anne had broad interests in science and in society in general. She was elected Rector of the UiT in 2013 (today the UiT the Arctic University of Norway) and served in this position until 2021, and thereafter as the Director of the Center of Ocean and the Arctic at UiT. From 2022 to 2025 she also served as the Vice President of the International Science Council (ISC), leading the working to strengthen research integrity, accountability and independence. She was appointed Knight of the Royal Norwegian St.Olav’s Order in 2015 and member of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters from 2017.
Anne was a hardworking and inspiring person and a faithful and caring friend. With integrity and a diplomatic nature, she made friends and initiated collaborations wherever she went. With fairness and humility, her presence in any meeting with people, was heartfelt and sincere. Anne loved sports, especially hiking, berry-picking and skiing, often staying out on long hikes under arctic conditions, even sleeping in the winter night under the open sky with northern lights. They loved to open their home and mountain cabin to friends and colleagues from all over the world, to share with others the passion for powerful nature of the North.
Prof. Anne Husebekk will be sadly missed by her many colleagues and associates around the world. Our condolences go to her husband Lars, and her children Camilla, Mads and Oda and the family.
