The Nobel Prizes are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist most famously known for the invention of dynamite. He died in 1896. In his will, he bequeathed all of his "remaining realisable assets" to be used to establish five prizes which became known as "Nobel Prizes". Nobel Prizes were first awarded in 1901.
The Nobel Prize in Physics is a yearly award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions for humankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901, the others being the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Physics is traditionally the first award presented in the Nobel Prize ceremony.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.
The Karolinska Institute is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The assembly consists of fifty professors from various medical disciplines at the university. The current vice-chancellor of Karolinska Institute is Annika Östman Wernerson, who took office in March 2023.
Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell was a Swedish scientist and Nobel Prize laureate in medicine.
Günter Blobel was a Silesian German and American biologist and 1999 Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell.
The Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize.
Andrew Zachary Fire is an American biologist and professor of pathology and of genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Craig C. Mello, for the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi). This research was conducted at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and published in 1998.
Sten Grillner is a Swedish neurophysiologist and distinguished professor at the Karolinska Institute's Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology in Stockholm where he is the director of that institute. He is considered one of the world's foremost experts in the cellular bases of motor behaviour. His research is focused on understanding the cellular bases of motor behaviour; in particular, he has shown how neuronal circuits in the spine help control rhythmic movements, such as those needed for locomotion. He is the current secretary general of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) and president of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS). For his work, in 2008 he was awarded the $1 million Kavli Prize for deciphering the basic mechanisms which govern the development and functioning of the networks of cells in the brain and spinal cord. This prize distinguish the recipient from the Nobel prizes in basic medical sciences.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine is the Nobel Committee responsible for proposing laureates for the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine is appointed by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, a body of 50 members at Karolinska Institutet that is formally a separate body not part of the institute itself. It consists of professors of physiology or medical subjects active at Karolinska Institutet. Other than the five ordinary members, ten associated members are appointed each year, for that year only.
Rolf Zetterström was a Swedish pediatrician. He was Professor of Pediatrics at the Karolinska Institute fra 1962 until his retirement in 1986. Zetterström also had a central role in the institutions awarding the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Carl Hugo Lagercrantz is a Swedish pediatrician. He is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the Karolinska Institute and is a former member of both the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and the assembly's five-member working body, the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine. He has also formerly been President of the Swedish Pediatric Society and the European Society for Pediatric Research. Since 2005 he has been editor-in-chief of Acta Paediatrica. Lagercrantz was appointed professor of pediatrics at Karolinska Institute in 1989 and was director of the Neonatal Programme at the Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital at Karolinska University Hospital until 2004. He earned his PhD in 1971 at Karolinska Institute and has also written several books. He is a member of the Swedish noble Lagercrantz family, which was ennobled in the 17th century, and is a descendant of Swedish finance minister Gustaf Lagercrantz.
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was jointly awarded to the American physiologist David Julius and Armenian-American neuroscientist Ardem Patapoutian "for the discovery of receptors for temperature and touch." During the award ceremony on December 10, 2021, Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet member Patrik Ernfors expressed:
"The 2021 Nobel Prize laureates have explained fundamental mechanisms underpinning how we sense the world within and around us. Our temperature and touch sensors are used all the time in every day of our lives. They continuously keep us updated about our environment, and without them even the simplest of our daily tasks would be impossible to perform."
Birgitta Henriques Normark is a Swedish doctor and researcher, focusing on the field of host-bacteria interactions and pneumococcal infections. She is a professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Karolinska Institute and is the head physician at the Karolinska University Hospital. She is a member of a number of academies including the European Academy of Microbiology, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, of which she was elected president in 2022.
