Photo: Maria Yohuang

The Swedish Society of Medicine (SLS) awards SEK 150,000 annually to someone who has made outstanding contributions to Alzheimer’s research. This year, the Bengt Winblad Prize is awarded to the Director of NEAR, Laura Fratiglioni, Professor of Medical Epidemiology, focusing on dementia diseases at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.

Laura Fratiglioni is awarded the prize for her outstanding contributions to neuroepidemiology. These contributions have increased the understanding of the risk factors that lead to dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. One of her most significant contributions is the construction of SNAC-Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), a NEAR-based population study that includes thousands of individuals, has long follow-up times, and whose results have led to groundbreaking discoveries in dementia.

“I am happy and honored to receive the Bengt Winblad Prize 2023 from the Swedish Medical Society. It is a special prize for me and I feel very grateful to the Swedish scientific community and in particular, Bengt Winblad. Bengt has given me the opportunity to conduct research on the brain and brain diseases, which has always fascinated me. I was also given the freedom to do it “my way”. I would like to dedicate this award to all my colleagues at the Aging Research Center, especially my ‘Magnificent 7, who have helped me develop high-quality research for many years. Grazie di cuore”, says Laura Fratiglioni.

Read the Swedish Society of Medicine press release (in Swedish)