Tomas Hökfelt

Tomas Hökfelt (born 29 June 1940) is a former professor in histology at the Karolinska Institutet from 1979 until 2006, when he got his emeritate. He was linked to the Department of Neuroscience and is specialized in cell biology. [ [http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=5927&l=en Karolinska Institutet] page for Hökfelt] ]

Biography

Tomas Hökfelt was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1940. He enrolled in the Karolinska Institutet in 1960 and got his BA in Medicine in 1960. He then studied at the Karolinska Institutet under professor Nils-Ake Hillarp, studying monomine neurons, getting his PhD in 1968 and his MD in 1971. He became an assistant professor in 1968, and from 1979 until 2006, Hökfelt worked as a professor at the Karolinska Institute. He was also a faculty member of the Department of Biotechnology at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. [ [http://www.abdn.ac.uk/ims/staff/details.php?id=j.mulder Hôkfelt] at the Royal Institute of Technology]

Research and publications

Tomas Hökfelt's early research was on neurotransmitters and neuropeptides in the brain. [ [http://www.isa.se/upload/Filer/pdf/SwedishBrainPower.pdf Swedish Brain Power] , a pdf by the Boston Consulting Group, page 16] He discovered the "coexistence principle", which states that one neuron can transmit multiple neurotransmitters at the same time. [ [http://www.bms.com/aboutbms/grants/data/neuros.html Bristol Myers] lists the Squibb Award winners]

Hökfelt has also conducted research into anorexia, indicating that it may be a disease, caused by a particular group of antibodies. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article570550.ece Times Online] on anorexia research (25 September 2005)]

Together with Anders Björklund, he has edited 21 volumes of the "Handbook of Chemical Neuroanatomy" between 1983 and 2005

Awards and honours

* 1987: joint winner of the Artois-Baillet-Latour Health Prize for the study of neuropeptides [ [http://www.interbrewbailletlatour.com/en/prize_winners_1_details.asp?prize_winner_id=28 Baillet_latour Health Prize] portrait of 1987 winner Hökfelt]
* 1988: joint winner of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research
* 1992: Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Tampere, Finland
* 1992: Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark
* 1999: Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Ferrara, Italy
* 1999: Doctor Honoris Causa at the Peking University Health Science Center, China
* 2000: Foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [ [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200006/10/eng20000610_42704.html People's Daily] on the election of seven foreigners to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (10 June 2000)]
* 2000: Doctor Honoris Causa at the Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 University, France
* 2007: winner of the Grande Médaille of the French Academy of Sciences for his study of neurotransmitters [ [http://www.academie-sciences.fr/conferences/seances_solennelles/pdf/discours_Hokfelt_05_02_08.pdf Grande Médaille] : Hökfelt's reception speech]
* Honorary Member of the American Physiological Society [ [http://www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/legacy/1990/issue5/154.pdf APS News] ]
* Hökfelt was one of the fifty most often cited scientists in the period 1983-2003 [ [http://archive.sciencewatch.com/sept-oct2003/sw_sept-oct2003_page2.htm Sciencewatch] reports on the fifty most cited scientists between 1983 and 2003]
* A more complete list of his awards and honours can be found at [http://hcr3.isiknowledge.com/author.cgi?id=24&cb=4260 ISI] .

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