Eva Steiness née Uhl (born 1941) is a Danish

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, former university professor and businessperson who has been active in Scandinavia's pharmaceutical industry since the late 1990s. She is currently

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Serodus ASA, a biomedical company based in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

which develops drugs for the treatment of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

. In 1982, Steiness became the first women to be appointed dean of

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. The University of Copenhagen c ...

's faculty of medicine and in 1985, she became the first women in Denmark to become a full professor in the medical field with her appointment at

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

Early life and education

Eva Uhl was born in

Glostrup Glostrup is a Denmark, Danish town in Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the Western suburbs (Copenhagen), western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated populati ...

on 4 October 1941. She is the daughter of the physician Erik Axelssøn Uhl (1908–82) and Grethe Holmer. She was raised in a well-to-do household in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

where she was the eldest of three children. After matriculating from Østersøgades Gymnasium in 1960, she immediately began to study medicine at Copenhagen University. After marrying the medical doctor Ib Steiness (1928–80) in 1966, she moved with him to

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, where she continued her studies at

while raising her two daughters. She graduated in 1968. After which she moved back to Copenhagen, where she had her third daughter.

Career

Following assignments in various hospitals, Steiness returned to her academic interests, teaching at Copenhagen University's pharmacological institute. In 1978, she earned a doctor's degree in medicine with a doctoral thesis titled ''Digoxin-klinisk farmakologi''. After her husband's death in 1980, she raised her children alone, working as a physician in parallel with her academic agenda. In 1982, she was appointed dean of the Faculty of Medicine, the first woman to hold the post. With her appointment as professor of

clinical pharmacology Clinical pharmacology is "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinical pharmacology ...

at Aarhus University in 1985, she became Denmark's first woman to hold a professorship in the medical field. She built up the institute, encouraging interest in research. In 1989, she was appointed research director of the pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck in Copenhagen. She remained there for the next nine years, becoming director and executive vice president. Under her leadership, the company grew considerably from 75 to 450 employees. In particular, the company prospered with sales of the antidepressant drug Cipramil. In 1998, after raising capital, she founded Zealand Pharma, with a focus on hormone preparations, serving as principal and board member. She also founded and owns the Danish company New Pharma. In April 2009, she joined Serodus, Oslo, as chief executive officer. Steiness also serves on the boards of several other companies in the medical field.

Awards

* 1989, Tagea Brandt Rejselegat

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiness, Eva 1941 births People from Glostrup Municipality University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen 20th-century Danish physicians Danish pharmacologists Danish women physicians Danish business executives Danish women company founders Danish women business executives Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Danish women academics Living people Danish healthcare chief executives Clinical pharmacologists 20th-century women physicians