Announcement_Nobelprize_Chemistry_2010-07

Jan ''Staffan'' Normark (born 1945) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

physician,

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

and

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

researcher. He grew up in

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Ume� ...

and was awarded his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2015 ...

in 1971. At the end of the 1970s, he was one of the first Swedish scientists to use the new

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

tools in infection-related research.Umeå University, November 24, 2008: Staffan Normark – en världsledande infektionsforskare har återvänt
In 1980, he was made a professor at Umeå University, then the university's youngest. 1989 he was recruited as professor of

molecular microbiology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. 1993 he returned to Sweden as professor of infectious disease control, in particular clinical bacteriology, at Karolinska Institutet. From 1999 to 2005 he served as the Executive Director of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF). In 2008 he was active at Umeå University to build up a research group within

bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...

and infection research. Much of his research in the 2000s have focussed on

pneumococcus ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'', or pneumococcus, is a Gram-positive, spherical bacteria, alpha-hemolytic (under aerobic conditions) or beta-hemolytic (under anaerobic conditions), aerotolerant anaerobic member of the genus Streptococcus. They are ...

. Normark was elected a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

in 1987 and took up the position as the Academy's permanent secretary on 1 July 2010, when he succeeded

Gunnar Öquist Gunnar Öquist (born 1941) is a Swedish biologist and professor of plant physiology at Umeå University, and served as the permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 2003 to 2010. He graduated from Uppsala University in 196 ...

.Kungl. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: Staffan Normark blir ny ständig sekreterare
press release 15 April 2010 1992 he was awarded the Göran Gustafsson Prize in medicine and in 1999 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. He was elected a foreign associate of the US

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in April 2019. Staffan Normark is married to

Birgitta Henriques-Normark Birgitta Henriques Normark is a Swedish doctor and researcher, focusing on the field of host-bacteria interactions and pneumococcal infections. She is a professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Karolinska Institute and is the head physician at the ...

, also a professor and researcher within infectious disease at Karolinska Institutet.Karolinska Institutet: Birgitta Henriques-Normark
, accessed 19 April 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Normark, Staffan 1945 births Living people Swedish microbiologists Swedish infectious disease physicians Academic staff of Umeå University Washington University in St. Louis faculty Academic staff of the Karolinska Institute Umeå University alumni Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences 20th-century Swedish people