Helle Waagepetersen holds an MSc in Pharmacy and a PhD in Neurochemistry. Throughout her career, she has distinguished herself as a leader capable of bringing together large research environments and developing them in close collaboration with both clinical and industrial partners.
Since 2022, she has served as Prorector for Education at the University of Southern Denmark, where she has been responsible for the university's entire education portfolio and led major strategic initiatives across the academic disciplines.
"Helle Waagepetersen has a powerful combination of scientific depth, strategic vision, and documented leadership capacity. She has demonstrated an ability to develop large academic environments, create common direction, and build bridges between universities, clinics, and industry. And that is precisely the kind of leader DTU Health Tech needs at a time when the health sector is evolving rapidly, and technological solutions are becoming increasingly important for patients and society," says Christine Nellemann, Prorector at DTU.
Internationally recognized researcher
From 2018 to 2022, Helle Waagepetersen was Head of Department at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology. Here, she led a research‑intensive life science environment and carried out a major strategic transformation of the department, including the establishment of cross‑disciplinary research groups, the strengthening of innovation environments, and the development of a data‑driven education profile.
Before taking on leadership roles, she built an internationally recognized research group focusing on brain energy metabolism, neurotransmission, and disease mechanisms. She has published more than 185 scientific articles and has received several awards for her research, including the Alzheimer Research Foundation Award and the European Society of Neurochemistry's Young Lectureship Award. During her tenure as a professor at the University of Copenhagen, she also received the university's International Study Environment Award for her work on educational and learning environments.
Close integration between research and practice
Collaboration with hospitals and regional health institutions has been central to Helle Waagepetersen's work. She has strengthened clinically oriented research, established joint appointments, and worked to integrate research projects closely with clinical practice.
These experiences align strongly with DTU Health Tech's profile at the intersection of engineering and health sciences. They also reinforce the institute's key role in the Technical University Hospital of Greater Copenhagen (TUH), which is a partnership between DTU and the Capital Region of Denmark, where new solutions are developed and tested, from advanced diagnostics to data‑driven treatment technologies, in close interdisciplinary collaboration between engineers and clinicians.
"DTU Health Tech is a truly unique institution in Denmark, where technical science, clinical practice, and innovation come together across disciplines. I look forward to supporting and further developing the institute's strong research environments, talented staff, and close collaborations with hospitals, regional partners, and industry. Health technology plays a critical and rapidly growing role in the healthcare system, and I am excited to help strengthen DTU's contribution to that development," says Helle Waagepetersen, incoming Director of DTU Health Tech.
