UAC’s director, Dan Andersson, is awarded prestigious Uppsala University prize
UAC's director, Professor Dan Andersson, has been awarded the Björkén Prize, one of Uppsala University's most important scientific awards for outstanding research. The prize has been awarded jointly with Professor Lena Claesson-Welsh, from the Department of Immunology, Pathology, and Genetics.
The Uppsala University board has decided to award half of the 2023 Björkénska Prize in the category "theoretical branches of medical science" to our director, Professor Dan Andersson. The motivation of the board for this decision underlines the big contributions of Prof. Andersson to the field of antibiotic resistance: "Dan Andersson's research on dynamics and mechanisms for the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is internationally leading. His research on the variability and stability of the bacterial genome shows how advantageous genes can be amplified and how selection pressure can produce compensatory gene changes and even the development of new genes. These achievements have also increased the understanding of horizontal gene transfer, as well as the occurrence and mechanisms of heteroresistance in bacterial populations. Overall, this knowledge is invaluable in order to understand how the increase in antibiotic resistance can be slowed down. With his ability to bring researchers together in an area-wide antibiotic center, he contributes to Uppsala University's outstanding position in antibiotic research".
At UAC, we are extremely proud of this excellent news and congratulate the two prize winners on their success and hard work.
About the Björkén Prize
The prize was awarded for the first time in 1902 on John Björkén's death anniversary on 16 December. In his will, it is stated that the interest is to be distributed annually "as a reward for outstanding scientific research or such works resting on a scientific basis - whether discoveries, inventions or fruitful improvements - which honor Swedish research or can contribute to the material development of the motherland." The prize is awarded alternately within four different areas: (i) Botany, zoology, and landscape planning; (ii) chemistry, mineralogy, metallurgy, and geology; (iii) physics, mechanics, and engineering; and (iv) the theoretical branches of medical science. The university board appoints the prize winner(s), and the prize is awarded in connection with the university's birthday in October. Check hear previous year's awardees.