The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine is the

Nobel Committee A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize. Four of these committees (for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiolog ...

responsible for proposing laureates for the

Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

.Nobelprize.org: The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine
accessed 2010-06-19 The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine is appointed by the

Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute is a body at Karolinska Institute which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It is headquartered in the Nobel Forum on the grounds of the Karolinska Institute campus. Originally the Nobel ...

, a body of 50 members at

Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consiste ...

which is formally a separate body not part of the institute itself. It usually consists of Swedish professors of physiology or medical subjects active at Karolinska Institutet, although the Assembly in principle could appoint anyone to the committee. Other than the five ordinary members, ten associated members are appointed each year, for that year only. The committee is a working body that invites nominations and evaluates candidates nominated for the Nobel Prize. The final decision to award the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine is taken by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet and based on a proposal from the Nobel Committee.Nobelprize.org: Prize Awarder for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
accessed 2010-06-19

Controversies

Over the years, there have been many controversies concerned with the process by which nominations and awards of the Nobel Prize. To avoid any possible appearance of bias, the

states that once 50 years has passed since the time of nomination, it will make the criteria for the selection of award recipients public. Currently (August 2, 2011) the Nobel Prize award site is more than 10 years late in providing these criteria. See

Nobel Prize controversies Since the first award in 1901, conferment of the Nobel Prize has occasionally engendered criticismThomas Perlmann Rolf Thomas Perlmann (born March 2, 1959, in Stockholm, Sweden) is a professor of molecular developmental biology at Karolinska Institute. In 2006, he became a member of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute. He became an adjunct member o ...

is the permanent secretary since 2016. The secretary is in charge of the organization for the Nobel Committee and Assembly. He participates ex officio in their meetings and is usually their representative on the board of the Nobel Foundation.

Former secretaries

Göran Liljestrand Göran Liljestrand (16 April 1886 – 16 January 1968), Swedish pharmacologist, known for the discovery of the Euler-Liljestrand mechanism. Liljestrand was born in Gothenburg but finished school at the Norra Real school in Stockholm, before ...

, 1918–1960 *

Ulf von Euler Ulf Svante von Euler (7 February 1905 – 9 March 1983) was a Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 for his work on neurotransmitters. Life Ulf Svante von Euler-Chelpin was born in S ...

, 1960–1965 *

Bengt Gustavsson Bengt Olov Emanuel "Julle" Gustavsson (13 January 1928 – 16 February 2017) was a Swedish professional footballer and manager. As player he participated in the final of the World Cup 1958 and won national championships with IFK Norrköping. As ...

, 1966–1978 * Jan Lindsten, 1979–1990 * Alf Lindberg, 1991–1992 *

Nils Ringertz Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player *Nils Björk (1898–1989) ...

, 1992–1999 * Hans Jörnvall, 2000–2008 * Göran K. Hansson, 2009–2014 * Urban Lendahl, 2015–2016 *

Former members

Karl Mörner Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

, 1900–? * Carl Sundberg, 1904–1916 *

Johan Erik Johansson Johan * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (film), a 1921 Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada * Jo-Han, a manu ...

, 1904–? (chairman 1918–?) * Frithiof Lennmalm, 1908–1910, 1917–1918 and 1920–? * Jules Åkerman, 1911–? * Edvard Welander, 1911–? *

Johan Albin Dalén Johan * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (film), a 1921 Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Johan Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada * Jo-Han, a manu ...

, 1911–? *

Bror Gadelius Bror is a Scandinavian masculine given name which simply means 'brother'. The name has been found as early as in runestones in the form Brodhir. The name form Bror is known since the year 1536. It is also used heavily in a colloquial sense in the c ...

, 1914–? *

Frans Westermark Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplomat ...

, 1914–? *

John Sjöqvist John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, 1918–1928 *

Gunnar Hedrén Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

, ?–1922 *

Einar Hammarsten Einar Hammarsten (January 4, 1889 in Norrköping - February 16, 1968 in Solna) was a Swedish physician and professor of pharmacy and chemistry at the Karolinska Institute from 1928 to 1957. His area of research was the chemistry of the cell nucle ...

, 1929–? *

Alfred Pettersson Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, 1932–1934 *

Folke Henschen Folke is a parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated in the Blackmore Vale, approximately south-east of Sherborne. The parish has an area of and is made of the villages of Folke and Alweston, and the hamlet of Bishops Down. ...

, 1935–? *

Gunnar Holmgren Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin (''Gunnarr'' in Old Norse). The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier, and attacker, but mostly is referred to by the Viking saying which means Brave and Bold warrior (''gunnr'' "war" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

, 1938–? *

Viktor Wigert The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, 1938–? * Gösta Häggqvist, around 1940 * Hilding Bergstrand, ?–1952 (chairman 1947–1952) *

, 1953–1960 (chairman 1958–1960) * Axel Westman, 1955–? *

Hugo Theorell Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell (6 July 1903 – 15 August 1982) was a Swedish scientist and Nobel Prize laureate in medicine. He was born in Linköping as the son of Thure Theorell and his wife Armida Bill. Theorell went to Secondary School at Kate ...

, 1958–? * Carl-Axel Hamberger, 1961–1966 *

Erling Norrby Erling is a Scandinavian male name, meaning "Heir of clanchief", i.e. prince or similar. Notable people named Erling include: Given name *Erling Aas-Eng (born 1965), Norwegian politician * Erling Aastad (1898–1963), Norwegian long jumper and spr ...

, 1975–1980 * Rolf Zetterström, 1975–? * David Ottoson, 1974–1984 (chairman 1982–1984) *

, 1981–1987 (chairman 1985–1987) * Sten Orrenius, 1983–2002 * Jan Wersäll, 1984–1990 *

Bengt Samuelsson Bengt Ingemar Samuelsson (born 21 May 1934) is a Swedish biochemist. He shared with Sune K. Bergström and John R. Vane the 1982 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related substances. Education a ...

, 1984–? (chairman 1987–89) *

Tomas Hökfelt Tomas Hökfelt (born 29 June 1940) is a Swedish physician and 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 bio ...

, 1985–? * Hans Wigzell, 1987–1992 (chairman 1990–1992) *

Sten Grillner Sten Grillner (born 14 June 1941, Stockholm) is a Swedish neurophysiologist and distinguished professor at the Karolinska Institute's Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology in Stockholm where he is the director of that institute. He is considered o ...

, 1987-1997 (chairman 1995–1997) * Gösta Gahrton, 1988-1997 (vice chairman 1995–1996; chairman 1997) * Ralf F. Pettersson, 1995–2000 (chairman 1998–2000) *

Staffan Normark Jan ''Staffan'' Normark (born 1945) is a Sweden, Swedish physician, microbiologist and infectious disease researcher. He grew up in Umeå and was awarded his Ph.D. at Umeå University in 1971. At the end of the 1970s, he was one of the first Swed ...

, 1996–2001 * Sten Lindahl, 1997–2002 (chairman 2001–2002) *

Bo Angelin Bo or BO may refer to Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre * Box office, where tickets to an event are sold, and by extension, the amount of business a production receives *'' BA:BO'', 2008 South Korean film * ''Bo'' (film), a ...

, 1998–2003 (chairman 2003) *

Björn Vennström Björn Vennström (born 1948) is a Swedish molecular biologist. He received his Ph.D. in 1978 at Uppsala University with a thesis on RNA and in 1993, was appointed Professor of Developmental Biology at the Karolinska Institute. He is also a profes ...

, 2001–2006 * Göran K. Hansson, 2002–2007 (chairman 2004–2006) * Erna Möller, 2003–2005 *Lars Terenius, 2003–2005 * Nils-Göran Larsson, 2006–2008 * Bertil Fredholm, 2004–2009 (chairman 2007–2008) *

Klas Kärre Klas Kärre (born January 12, 1954 in Strasbourg, France) is a Swedish immunologist. Kärre received his doctorate in 1981 at Karolinska Institutet and is a professor of molecular immunology at Karolinska Institutet since 1993. In the mid-1980s K ...

, 2006–2011 (chairman 2009–11) *

Carlos Ibáñez Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

, 2008–2011 * Urban Lendahl, 2007–2012 (chairman 2012) * Jan Andersson, 2008–2013 * Rune Toftgård, elected 2010-2014 * Anna Wedell 2013-2018 (chair 2017–2018) * Patrik Ernfors 2015-2020 (chair 2019–2020) * Nils-Göran Larsson 2017-2022 (chair 2021–2022)

References

{{Nobel Prizes Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Karolinska Institute Awards juries and committees