Estonian scientist Toomas Veidebaum dies at 79

Estonian scientist Toomas Veidebaum died on Wednesday at the age of 79, the National Institute for Health Development said, ERR reported.

Veidebaum’s research focused on risk factors for cancer and other chronic diseases. In 1991, he became head of the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine. After the National Institute for Health Development was established, he served as its scientific director and later as a leading researcher.

He received the University of Tartu Faculty of Medicine medal in 2000 and the Order of the Estonian Red Cross, Second Class, in 2004. In 2000, he also won Estonia’s national science prize in medicine for research titled “Molecular markers in cancer epidemiology.”

Veidebaum was a founding member of the Estonian Human Genetics Association, which awarded him its lifetime achievement prize in 2016. The National Institute for Health Development gave him its lifetime achievement award in 2022.