O Professor Daniel Serrão: A Excelência duma Vida entre a Ética e a Ciência

Abstract

Daniel dos Santos Pinto Serrão (1928-2017) was a physician, researcher and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, primarily dedicated to Histopathology and Bioethics and Medical Ethics. He was one of the pioneers of Bioethics in Portugal. He established the Bioethics and Medical Ethics Service at São João Hospital and promoted the first Hospital Humanization Commission in Portugal. He introduced, for the first time in Porto, the teaching of Bioethics as Ethics in healthcare. He turned the Pathology Department into a "school" for subsequent generations, continuing the work of his predecessor, Professor Amândio Joaquim Tavares. He was a visionary in this discipline, importing the first electronic microscope for a public hospital in Portugal. He held positions in prestigious organizations such as the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee, the Council of Europe's Steering Committee on Bioethics, the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences, and was a member and consultant to the Pontifical Academy for Life. He authored 1420 papers or studies, of which 632 were published. He was nationally and internationally recognized with various awards and distinctions, including the National Health Award (2011) and two Pfizer Awards (1958,1971). He was honored by the then-President of the Republic, Professor Cavaco Silva, with the Grand Cross of the Order of Sant'Iago da Espada (2008) and posthumously with the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique, a distinction presented by the President, Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (2017). Despite facing some obstacles, he was a true academic who, in his humility and dedication, never seeking glory, left a lasting impression on the National Health Service, the São João Hospital, and in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, which will endure over time.