Dr Li Dak-Sum Lecture: 'Nobel Behind the Scenes' by Professor Urban Lendahl, Karolinska Institute

About the Speaker:

Urban Lendahl is Professor of Genetics at the Karolinska Institute, and a member of the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine since 2001. He presented the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002. He was deputy head of the Nobel Committee 2009-2011 and head of the Nobel Committee in 2012. Since 2015 he is Secretary-General for the Nobel Assembly.

Urban Lendahl conducts research in the area of tumor biology, vascular biology and stem cell research. The focus of his research is on the Notch signaling pathway and its interaction with other signaling mechanisms as well as its roles in development and disease.

Urban Lendahl is a graduate of KI, and also trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has served as head of the review committee at the Human Frontiers Science Foundation and serves at the Board of Trustees for the Koerber European Science Award and at the Jury for the Heineken Prize. He is also Editor-in-Chief for the journal Experimental Cell Research.

Click here for more information on the Lendahl Lab.

Abstract:

Nobel Prizes have been awarded for more than 100 years and in this presentation I will describe some of the underlying processes for selecting Nobel Laureates in the area of Physiology or Medicine. I will describe the "Nobel year", i.e. the working process from nominations coming in early in the year up to the award ceremony and festivities at the end of the year. In my presentation, I will also briefly describe the life and works of Alfred Nobel and the historic events that led up to that Nobel Prizes could be awarded from 1901 and onwards. Furthermore, I will briefly touch upon the various strategies we use for communicating the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Finally, the presentation will contain some personal reflections on unexpected events that have occurred in association with some recent Nobel Prizes.

For enquiries, please contact the Centre at +852 2831 5391 or ldsrc@hku.hk

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