[{Image src='Schulz_Hofer_Irene.jpg' caption='' height='400' alt='Irene Schulz Hofer' class='image_left'}]
!!Irene Schulz-Hofer (1941-2026)

__Academia Europaea are saddened to announce the passing of [Professor Irene Schulz-Hofer|Member/Schulz-Hofer_Irene] MAE,  member of the [Physiology and Neuroscience Section|Acad_Main/Sections/Physiology_and_neuroscience] since 1990, on March 27, 2026.__
\\ \\
[Professor Ole Petersen|Member/Petersen_Ole] MAE, former Vice-President of __Academia Europaea__ and past Director of the AE Cardiff Knowledge Hub, writes in his obituary:
\\ \\
"''Irene Schulz was one of Germany’s most prominent physiologists. She made fundamental contributions to our knowledge of exocrine gland function. As a student, and later colleague, of the great Karl Ullrich, one of the pioneers of kidney micro-puncture studies, Irene was the first to establish the composition of the primary secretion from exocrine glands. This pioneering work was carried out on human sweat glands. Building on these studies, Irene discovered that the basic problem in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a defect of epithelial membrane Cl- permeability.  Later, in collaboration with Sir Michael Berridge, she established inositol-1,4,5 trisphosphate (IP3) as the intracellular messenger liberating Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in exocrine gland cells. The discovery of IP3 as a Ca2+ releasing messenger, published in Nature in 1983, was an epoch-making event in the field of signal transduction mechanisms and founded the field of Ca2+ Signalling.''"
\\ \\
__Read the complete obituary:__
\\ \\
Petersen, O.H. In Memoriam: Professor Irene Schulz, 1941 – 2026\\
Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology (2026) 478:42\\
[https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-026-03174-z|https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-026-03174-z]