Tor Biering-Sørensen

Heart problems can lurk in the background, almost as if they’re biding their time. Even if you’re under 50 and feel fit as a fiddle, without even realising it, you may be at a high risk of eventually developing problems such as strokes, heart attacks and dangerous forms of cardiac arrhythmia, which often manifest after retirement.

But – and although there’s a but, it’s a positive one – in recent years, medical science has made significant progress in developing methods of identifying the early precursors to cardiac disorders that are currently hiding in the shadows. For example, super-sensitive ultrasound equipment can, like a keen-eyed detective, identify suspicious patterns of movement in the cells of the heart muscles, which may warn of future problems.

Even before graduating as a doctor from the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) in 2011, Biering-Sørensen (now 39) was already doing this kind of detective work. He has pursued it ever since, and his dedication and talent have earned him international recognition as a leading expert in ultrasound scanning of heart functions.

As he points out, the beauty of these scans is that they allow us to detect even very early stages of heart disease in apparently healthy people. ‘That knowledge lets us start preventive treatment in good time, hopefully preventing patients from developing heart conditions that require treatment later in life.’

The Lundbeck Foundation has awarded Biering-Sørensen its Young Investigator Prize 2023 – largely in recognition of his research and scientific contribution to preventing heart disease. However, the DKK 1 million prize – of which he personally receives 300,000, while the rest is earmarked for research – is also awarded in recognition of other aspects of his scientific work, stresses Peter Thostrup, the Scientific Programme Director responsible for the Lundbeck Foundation’s talent initiatives.

‘Among other things, the prize recognises his effective dissemination of knowledge and involvement in professional and academic organisations. But it is also, to a great extent, about taking responsibility – both inside and outside the laboratory – e.g. supervising postdocs and PhD students. In all of these areas, Tor Biering-Sørensen, who also has an exceptional talent for organisation, does remarkable work. He is now being rewarded with the foundation’s Young Investigator Prize’, says Thostrup.

 

Packed programme

Tor Biering-Sørensen needs to manage his time well to keep on top of the many and varied aspects of his day-to-day work.

In 2022, he became a professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, where he was one of the founders of and still leads the Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials (CTCPR). The research centre uses Danish health data registers to conduct large-scale studies of the effects of various treatments and initiatives, such as the flu vaccinations offered to all Danes over the age of 65.

Biering-Sørensen is also head of the Cardiovascular Non-Invasive Imaging Research Laboratory (CIRL), which he also helped to conceive of and establish. The laboratory is a collaboration between the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen and the cardiac wards at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital.

He is also affiliated with the Steno Diabetes Center, where he researches the prevention of heart disease in diabetic patients and people with obesity problems.

And then there is Rigshospitalet, where he is training to be a specialist in cardiology. ‘It usually takes five years, but due to all the other projects I’m involved with, I’ve been granted an extension to seven. I still have a year and a half to go,’ says Biering-Sørensen.

A universe of health data

In several respects, Denmark is in a unique and highly favourable position when it comes to research based on health data, mainly due to the Central Person Register (CPR) system. In Denmark, every resident has an ID number permanently associated with them, making it possible to track their health status and major life events from the cradle to the grave. Provided data-security regulations are followed, researchers can cross-refer and study the links between every health issue imaginable.

‘It is a unique system which, in combination with each person’s e-box, makes it possible for us to carry out extensive studies, which include documenting the effects of large, public-sector health initiatives. There is an urgent need for this at a time when the Danish health system is under massive pressure in several ways. We are working on this with, among others, CTCPR,’ says Biering-Sørensen.

One project that the professor and his colleagues at UCPH are working on is the world’s most extensive randomised study to date. One million Danes aged over 65 have received an e-mail inviting them to take part.

Due to the generally increased risk of disease that statistically accompanies passing 65, people in this group have the right to a standard flu vaccine, paid for by the health service. The study asked if they would be willing to try an even stronger variant – a so-called high-dose vaccine, which is also on the market – if they were chosen at random to be offered one.

The response rate was unusually high, with almost 20% saying yes to testing a high-dose vaccine.

The next stage of the study involves monitoring whether, in the long term, these high-dose vaccines reduce cardiovascular disease in the recipients of this potent ‘cocktail’. This information would also show whether, from a broad social perspective, it might make sense in the future to offer this variant – which is more expensive than the standard flu vaccine – to all over 65-year-olds because, ultimately, it would reduce the numbers who fall ill and cut treatment costs.

These are the kinds of questions that the winner of the Lundbeck Foundation’s Young Investigator Prize 2023 constantly strives to answer.

 

BLUE BOOK

EDUCATION:
Tor Biering-Sørensen (39) graduated as an MD at the University of Copenhagen, where he also did his PhD from 2011 to 2015. In 2018, he completed a Master of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, USA.

In 2023, he completed a Master of Science (in Clinical Trials) at the University of Oxford, UK. He has made prolonged study visits to universities abroad, including Harvard Medical School, USA.

PRIZES:
The Lundbeck Foundation’s Young Investigator Prize 2023 is just the latest of the awards received by Tor Biering-Sørensen. Previous accolades include:

EliteForsk Travel Scholarship (2013). The Lundbeck Foundation’s Talent Prize (2013).

Young investigator awards from the American Heart Association (2013 & 2014); American College of Cardiology (2016); European Society of Cardiology (2016); Heart Failure Society of America (2020).

Sapere Aude Talent Award (2015); Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship (2019); Medal of Honour for Younger Researchers (2019); Bagger-Sørensen Foundation’s Young Researcher Prize (2020); Clinical Emerging Investigator Award, Novo Nordisk Foundation (2021), Erhoff Foundation’s Talent Award (2023).

RESEARCH FUNDING:
Throughout his career, Tor Biering-Sørensen has received research funding from a range of private and public bodies, totalling DKK 123 million since 2008.

He is a highly sought-after supervisor and is currently supervising two postdocs and 19 PhD students. Four of his students have won the Lundbeck Foundation’s Talent Prize.

RESEARCH ARTICLES: Tor Biering-Sørensen has published over 320 scientific articles in international research journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet. His H-index is 43.