Edward Carmeliet (1930-2021)-channelling scientific curiosity: a tribute from the ESC Working Group on Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology†

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Edward Carmeliet (1930–2021)—channelling
scientific curiosity: a tribute from the ESC Working
Group on Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology
Ursula Ravens
1
*, Ana M. Gomez
2
, Jordi Heijman
3
, Carol Ann Remme
4
,
Dobromir Dobrev
5
, Godfrey Smith
6
, Paul G.A. Volders
7
, Elisabetta Cerbai
8
,
David A. Eisner
9
, Barbara Casadei
10
, Antonio Zaza
11
, Sylvain Richard
12
,
Alessandro Mugelli
13
, Guy Vassort
14
, Hilary F. Brown
15
, and Karin R. Sipido
16
*
1
Institute of Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine, Freiburg, Germany;
2
Inserm UMR-S 1180, Universite´ Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France;
3
CARIM, Maastricht University, Maastricht,
The Netherlands;
4
Department of Experimental Cardiology, Amsterdam UMC, location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
5
Institute of Pharmacology, University Duisburg-Essen,
Duisburg, Germany;
6
Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK;
7
CARIM, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands;
8
Department Neurofarba, Universita` degli Studi Firenze, Florence, Italy;
9
Cardiac Physiology, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK;
10
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK;
11
Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, Universita` degli Studi di Milano
Bicocca, Milan, Italy;
12
Inserm U1046, CNRS UMR 9214, Universite´ de Montpellier, Montpellier, France;
13
Universita` degli Studi Firenze, Florence, Italy;
14
Universite´ de Montpellier,
Montpellier, France;
15
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; and
16
Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Keywords Heart •Ion channels •Arrhythmia •Electrophysiology
In April 2021, very sad news spread like wildfire through our electro-
physiological community—we had lost a great scientist, mentor, and
dear friend, when Edward ‘Ward’ Carmeliet, MD, PhD, Professor
Emeritus of the University of Leuven died after a long, productive life in
science.
From the start of his studies in medicine at the University of Leuven,
he engaged in a life-long pursuit to unravel the mechanisms underlying
the normal electrical activity of the heart and to understand what goes
wrong in arrhythmias. Edward Carmeliet’s approach to experimental
physiology was driven by scientific curiosity and critically scrutinizing all
observations. He has provided in-depth insights into the various ion
channels and transporters that determine the time course of the action
potential. He studied Na
þ
transport (Na
þ
current, Na/K pump; late Na
þ
current and Long-QT syndrome type 3), Ca
2þ
homeostasis (T-type
Ca
2þ
current; Ca
2þ
regulation, Na/Ca exchange), Ca
2þ
-activated Cl
-
current, and various K
þ
channels (delayed rectifier current, ATP-
sensitive K
þ
current, ACh-sensitive K
þ
current). His work was transla-
tional as well, studying ischaemia and cardioprotection, and the mecha-
nisms of antiarrhythmic drugs.
The work of Edward Carmeliet is characterized by a continuous drive
to pursue his ideas with the latestinnovativemethods. His pioneering re-
search led to several prizes and honorary invitations worldwide. Of
Edward Carmeliet’s numerous publications we wish to highlight his in-
sight into cardiac ion channels in the well-received book: ‘Cardiac
Cellular Electrophysiology’ (Carmeliet E and Vereecke J; Springer 2002);
the proceedings of the 1990 Corsendonk meeting ‘Ionic currents and
Ischemia’ and the summary of the symposium honouring his retirement
in 1995 ‘Potassium Channels in Normal and Pathological Conditions’.
He remained scientifically active well beyond his retirement. In 2019,
he published three reviews on the basics of cardiac electrophysiology in
Physiological Reports.
1–3
In 2020, a few weeks before his 90th birthday,
he also gave the first webinar of the European Working Group on
Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology (EWGCCE) on ‘Cardiac cellular elec-
trophysiology: back to basics’, which was viewed by more than 700 sci-
entists from around the world.
Retirement has indeed been a remarkable period in Edward
Carmeliet’s exceptional career: he started collaborating with his son
Peter Carmeliet, a renowned geneticist and molecular biologist. Father
and son became co-authors of five publications on ion channel dysfunc-
tion and Long-QT syndrome, including a Nature Medicine paper.
4
Edward Carmeliet had a wide network of collaborations and scientific
exchange, key to his exceptional impact on cardiac electrophysiology
(Figure 1A,B). Beyond advancing the field, he also took great pains to pass
on his knowledge to younger scientists. Together with his friend
Edouard Coraboeuf, he reached out in 1977 to invite PhD trainees and
postdoctoral fellows to come to Leuven for aninformal meeting to share
novel information about all aspects of the cardiac action potential and its
underlying ion currents in a stimulating and friendly atmosphere. No
abstracts were required. The meeting date had been chosen shortly be-
fore Christmas when no other conferences were taking place and uni-
versities were about to close down for the festive season. One of the
authors of this reflection vividly remembers the thrill she felt when she
†
The extended version of this tribute can be found at the homepage of the Working Group Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology (https://www.escardio.org/Working-groups/Working-
Group-on-Cardiac-Cellular-Electrophysiology).
* Corresponding author. Tel: þ49 761 270-63953, E-mail: ravens@msx.tu-dresden.de (U.R.) and Tel: þ32 16 330 815, E-mail: karin.sipido@kuleuven.be (K.R.S.)
Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. V
CThe Author(s) 2021. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Cardiovascular Research (2021) 00, e1–e3
doi:10.1093/cvr/cvab333 ICONS IN CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH
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opened her personal invitation by the two highly admired and—in con-
trast to her—firmly established electrophysiologists. How did she ‘de-
serve’ to join? This first meeting took place on the Gasthuisberg. A group
of almost one hundred electrophysiologists enjoyed the warm hospital-
ity of the old monastery (including the rather Spartan sleeping cabinets
of the guesthouse). The science was amazing: there were no parallel ses-
sions, everybody listened to each presentation about cardiac action
potentials and the underlying ionic currents, the discussions were tough
but friendly and inspiring. Thus 1977 can be considered the founding
year of the Working Group on Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology that,
once associated with the European Society of Cardiology (after fierce
discussions whether or not to remain independent) became the
EWGCCE as we know it today. For many of our peers, the annual meet-
ing of the EWGCCE became a favourite because it continued in the spirit
in which it was initiated. We commemorate the pioneers in the field,
founders of the EWGCCE, with the Carmeliet–Coraboeuf–Weidmann
lecture presented at our annual meeting (Figure 1C).
Edward Carmeliet continued to attend the meetings himself until very
recently, sharing his insights and gentle teachings with the younger gener-
ation. We all have fond memories of him. At the 2016 WG meeting in
Glasgow, he co-chaired a platform session with Otto Hutter, another gi-
ant in physiology of the generation of Edward Carmeliet (https://www.
physoc.org/magazine-articles/obituary-otto-f-hutter-1924-2020/). They
greatly impressed all of us, and the younger scientists responded to the
passion and interest that Edward and Otto clearly retained for electro-
physiology. There could be no better advert for the subject than its abil-
ity to sustain the interest of these lively and curious minds for many
decades. Between them, Otto and Edward remarked how good it was
to meet up, particularly as ‘one never knows whether there will be an-
other meeting’. It may indeed have been the lasttime they met.
Those of us who worked with Edward in the laboratory, will always
remember him as a mentor who stood aside and above. His fatherly
guidance in challenging scientific issues, his balanced approach to scien-
tific debate, and his experience based on historic contributions to our
field, made us realize that he led ingreatness by example.
But, Edward Carmeliet was not blinded by research. He had many
interests outside the realms of science, too. Central to his private life
was his family. The remainder of his free time was devoted to reading
books, listening to music, and caring for his beautiful garden (Figure 1D).
Physically he kept fit by cycling, mentally by nurturing his scientific
Figure 1 (A) Early years in Bern, studying Cl
-
currents (courtesy Ernst Niggli, University of Bern, CH). (B) The Laboratory of Physiology in 1982. (C)
Edward Carmeliet presenting Andras Varro with the award for the Carmeliet–Coraboeuf–Weidmann lecture annual WG meeting, with Paul Volders and
David Eisner to the rightand left. (D) Edward Carmeliet in his garden in 2019.
e2 U. Ravens et al.
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curiosity. We will miss his astute remarks and impish questions, his kind
sense of humour, and his unassuming and generous support of other
scientists.
Conflict of interest: none declared.
References
1. Carmeliet E. Conduction in cardiac tissue. Historical reflections. Physiol Rep 2019;7:
e13860.
2. Carmeliet E. From Bernstein’s rheotome to Neher-Sakmann’s patch electrode. The
action potential. Physiol Rep 2019;7:e13861.
3. Carmeliet E. Pacemaking in cardiac tissue. From IK2 to a coupled-clock system. Physiol
Rep 2019;7:e13862.
4. Nuyens D, Stengl M, Dugarmaa S, Rossenbacker T, Compernolle V, Rudy Y, Smits JF,
Flameng W, Clancy CE, Moons L, Vos MA, Dewerchin M, Benndorf K, Collen D,
Carmeliet E, Carmeliet P. Abrupt rate accelerations or premature beats cause life-
threatening arrhythmias in mice with long-QT3 syndrome. Nat Med 2001;7:
1021–1027.
Edward Carmeliet 1930–2021 e3
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