Eric K. Fernström Swedish Prize awarded to Katja Petzold
Katja Petzold, Professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
Katja Petzold, Professor at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, has been awarded the Eric K. Fernström Swedish Prize. The award decision was made by the Prize Committee of the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy at Uppsala University.
Katja Petzold will receive the 2025 Eric K. Fernström Swedish Prize for young, particularly promising and successful researchers on 6 November. She has been awarded the prize for her contribution to fundamental knowledge and understanding of structural biology and the dynamics of RNA at the molecular level.
From the award decision:
“She has described new mechanisms that regulate RNA function through what are known as excited states, which are temporary conformations that regulate gene expression. She is a pioneer in NMR-based methods for studying RNA structural dynamics at atomic resolution, with which she describes principles of ribosome tertiary structure dynamics. Her method for detecting excited states led to the first structural dynamics determination of a microRNA ‘in action’. She has also developed new techniques for studying RNA-drug interactions in intact cells with a view to determining the mechanisms of action of these drugs.”
Awarded to young and successful researchers
The Eric K. Fernström Swedish Prize is awarded to young, particularly promising and successful researchers who are under the age of 45 and are active at a Swedish faculty of medicine. The faculties in Umeå, Uppsala, Stockholm, Linköping, Gothenburg and Lund name one prize winner each. The award comes with SEK 90,000 in prize money, which cannot be shared. The prize will be presented at the Research Day event in Lund.
Annica Hulth