Dag Larsson new Honorary Doctor at the Faculty of Pharmacy

“It was both overwhelming and exceptionally flattering to receive news that I had been awarded an honorary doctorate of pharmacy. A moment later, I was also struck by a substantial dose of humility before the great honor that comes with this title,” states Dag Larsson, Senior expert policy at Lif, the research-based pharmaceutical industry in Sweden and new Honorary Doctor at Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy.

With this appointment, Dag Larsson joins a highly exclusive group reaching from Yokohama in the east to San Francisco in the west. Here, world-leading researchers, the high ranks of Big Pharma and several Nobel Prize winners meet. The list is best described as a Who's Who of global pharmacy, but what exactly characterizes the perfect choice of a new Honorary Doctor?

“A good foundation is an already established och fruitful alliance where both parties identify great added value in continued developed collaboration. To me, a very good choice is Richard Bergström, former Swedish vaccine coordinator who, despite his intensive schedule, often visits Sweden and our faculty. In Dag Larsson, I see several similarities with Richard and am convinced that we have made an excellent decision,” says Mathias Hallberg, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy.

Dag Larsson's and the Faculty of Pharmacy's shared history starts 19 January 1979, as the future student of pharmacy got off the train from Northern Sweden "with big eyes and suitcase in hand". Our new honorary doctor remembers his years at Uppsala University and the Biomedical Center as the "perfect environment for someone who has just left the parental home". During daytime: Studies, After hours: Student life. Still, Dag also found time to engage in faculty operations.

“In 1981, I was president of the Pharmaceutical Student Union and have since then prioritized to keep active contact with the faculty. Not least to express gratitude for some of the most formative years of my life. My current role at the Pharmaceutical Industry Association includes a position in the Faculty Advisory Board. I am involved in the Alumni Association board and look forward to my recurring guest lectures at the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy. I find great value in meeting future pharmacists and can still recall how much I, as a student, appreciated to meet industry representatives,” says Dag Larsson.

In the world of pharmacy, Dag Larsson is perhaps best known as a skilled future analyst with an impressive ability to shed light on the many perspectives of drug development. On top of his desk in Stockholm is currently the assignment as chair of a Vinnova-funded initiative to translate research into product development and manufacturing, and to prepare healthcare for a new generation of biological drugs. The next step in this work – where both Uppsala University and the University Hospital are involved – is to create a coordination function for the long-term future. But before that, the Uppsala winter conferment ceremony awaits in 25 January 2025.

“I visit Uppsala as often as I can, both professionally and privately. I always enjoy a stroll along Studentvägen where I lived during my years in the city. If possible, I stop by Norrland's nation and I still have many friends in Uppsala from my student days. The fact that I will also soon enter the stage of the University Auditorium and share the moment with such distinguished people is almost hard to grasp, it will definitely be a memory for life,” Dag Larsson notes.

Also joining the winter conferment ceremony is Lynne Taylor, Professor of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and a world-leading researcher at Purdue University, Indiana (USA), who is also awarded an honorary doctorate at the Faculty of Pharmacy. The faculty has called Professors Christel Bergström and Anja Sandström to the assignment to host the new honorary doctors' during their visit to Uppsala.

“I am very much looking forward to a continued close collaboration with Dag Larsson, who always shows genuine commitment and great generosity with his knowledge and experience. It is truly a noble task to represent the Faculty of Pharmacy as Dag Larsson receives his much deserved doctoral hat,” says Anja Sandström.

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Robert Granberg, Gunilla Lundström a o