Professor Tine Jess: AAU goes the extra mile
: 30.04.2025
Tine Jess had her research breakthrough as a medical student and since then has had a meteoric career in her field. When she received a grant for a basic research centre, she established it at AAU, a place she has always had a special affection for, primarily because of its distinctive decency and drive.
By Lea Laursen Pasgaard, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.
Photo: Lars Svankjær, Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Tine Jess never thought she would be a researcher. She had always imagined that she would be a doctor in a clinic with a white coat and stethoscope. But as a medical student, she was asked to become part of a research project on chronic gastrointestinal diseases. The offer came from a renowned professor, Vibeke Binder at Herlev Hospital. Tine Jess was a medical student in her department and initially turned down the offer.
"I wasn't immediately interested. She asked me to go home and sleep on it, so I did. I found her incredibly sharp and inspiring. A role model. That's why I went back and said yes to the project. At the time, the content was secondary to me, but it became defining for my career," says Tine Jess.
"Suddenly, as a very young person, I found myself on the podium at the largest congress in the world in my field. After that, it went from one thing to another – there was no turning back," she adds.
Today, Tine Jess is a professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at AAU and head of the basic research centre PREDICT that conducts research on chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. She is also one of the prominent AAU figures interviewed by AAU Update about their relationship with AAU on the occasion of the university's 50th anniversary.
Tine Jess graduated as an MD from the University of Copenhagen in 2002, and since then her career has only taken off. She published a scientific article in the world's best journal in her field the same year she graduated. After that, she got a job at the renowned US hospital, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Since then, she has held leading roles in industry and in the state sector, defended her doctoral dissertation at the University of Copenhagen at the age of 33, and received several awards and grants during her career, including from the Danish National Research Foundation. In 2019, she received a grant of DKK 68.5 million for the basic research centre that she chose to establish on the Copenhagen campus. She had been an adjunct professor since 2012.
"I had a very good relationship with Aalborg University Hospital (Aalborg UH). A collaboration with the clinicians characterized by mutual respect, proper conditions and enthusiasm that I greatly appreciate," says Tine Jess.
"The gastrointestinal medicine department at the hospital is the leading in Denmark and is impressively high on Newsweek's international list of the world's best hospitals every year. In establishing our multidisciplinary centre where interaction between clinicians and basic researchers is essential, it was therefore ideal to place the centre at AAU in partnership with Aalborg UH," she adds.
For her, AAU was an attractive university to settle at, because it is not the country's largest or oldest.
"The fact that the university is not 'the biggest in the class' means that you go the extra mile. You know that you have to do things well and do them properly. Perhaps there is also some North Jutland mentality in being calm, anchored and orderly, which makes me feel that you are here more for the cause than for all the possible political agendas, says Tine Jess.
"As a university, you want to make a difference with the research you do, and I like that we have a management that sets a direction that also takes people into account," she adds.
Tine Jess also sees it as a strength that the Faculty of Medicine at AAU is only 15 years old. The faculty is concerned with showing its worth and positioning itself, and the professor finds that there is more flexibility and agility around decisions than she has experienced elsewhere. When an organization has grown very large, there are an incredible number of ways up through the system for even the smallest decisions, says Tine Jess.
"The decision-making processes are shorter when you are not bigger or older. This means that you can really advance some things. I think we have shown that to a great extent with PREDICT," she says.
The Centre of Excellence was built from square one and today is home to one of the world's leading research environments on inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases. According to Tine Jess, this is because the centre has succeeded in creating a state-of-the-art model for how to best use health data and biobanks to make a difference in a given disease area.
Today, Tine Jess is in a position where hardly a week passes without receiving an invitation to come and give presentations about her research around the world.
For Tine Jess, however, the greatest joy in the job is to guide and see young talented researchers flourish.
"What I enjoy most is being present with people and interacting with them about the research, and getting things moving forward," she explains.
At the centre, she has deliberately aimed to put together a research team that represents different nationalities, ages and genders. For her, there is a strength in diversity:
"It's simply because the most brilliant ideas arise when diverse people work together," the professor states.
After 15 years at AAU, Tine Jess does not hesitate to state what her hopes for the university's future are. She hopes that AAU will maintain what has been some of the university's most distinctive features since its inception in 1974: vision and commitment to the outside world.
"I like the line the university has taken with its missions. That we address and contribute to the solutions the world needs right now," says Tine Jess.
The professor notes that there are several major challenges both in Denmark and at the global level that call for action. These include the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine and poor well-being among young people.
"In terms of contributing to major societal challenges, I actually think that AAU is at the forefront among the universities in Denmark. So, I also look at AAU's next 50 years with excitement and anticipation. I really hope that people will continue having an outward vision and working for the world," she says.
Subject: AAU 50 Years
In 2024, AAU marked its 50th anniversary, and Update has spoken to a number of AAU personalities about their relationship with the university and wishes for the future.
Find AAU Update's other anniversary interviews here:
Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.