SWEDISH DIABETES RESEARCH

Personal

Åke Sjöholm, born March 4,  1963, in Nyköping, Sweden.
Citizenship: Swedish
Marital status: Married, three children.

Degrees

Bachelor of medicine, Uppsala university, 1984.
M.D., Uppsala university, 1988.
Ph.D., Uppsala university, 1991.
Licensed physician, 1993 (Sweden); 1996 (Norway).
Associate Professor in experimental endocrinology, Karolinska Institutet, 1994.
Specialist in internal medicine (board certified), 1998.

Present positions

Professor of Experimental Endocrinology, Karolinska Institutet (2005-). Senior Clinical Consultant in Internal Medicine, Stockholm South Hospital. Director of Clinical Research, Department of Internal Medicine, Stockholm South Hospital. Chief of Diabetes Research Unit, Karolinska Institutet at Stockholm South Hospital. Chairman, Research Council at Karolinska Institutet at Stockholm South Hospital. Adjunct Professor, College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, U.S.A. (2003-.).

Past positions

Instructor in anatomy, histology and medical cell biology at Uppsala university 1983-90. Physician at departments of internal medicine, endocrinology, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, anestesiology, intensive care, lung medicine, infectious diseases, psychiatry and geriatrics for 18.5 months 1987-92. Ph.D. traineeship from the medical faculty of Uppsala university (1988-91). Postdoc, University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center, 12 months. Internship 1991-93, Löwenströmska Hospital. Army medical officer (10 months 1984-95). Chief resident in internal medicine, Löwenströmska Hospital, 1993-96.

Boards and committees

President of the graduate students' association at the medical faculty (1988-91); Member of the board of the medical faculty (1989-91), executive committee for medical research training (1988-91), judicial committee of academic appointments (1989-91), board of the biomedical center (1988-91); Member of the board and clinical council, center for positron emission tomography (1990-91); Member of the medical library council (1989-91); Co-opt member, student affairs subcommittee (1990-91); Council member, department of molecular medicine (1994-2001). Chairman, Research Council, Stockholm South Hospital.

Presentations at scientific meetings/invited lecturer*/Chairman$

Turku 1987, Leipzig 1987, Bergen 1988, Paris 1988, Sydney 1988, Stockholm 1989*, Washington  D.C. 1989, Lisbon 1989, Odense 1990, Washington D.C. 1991., Boston 1991, Dublin 1991, Sydney 1991*, Keystone 1992, Taos 1992, Keystone 1992, Prague 1992, Keystone 1993, Stockholm 1993*, Copenhagen 1993*, Istanbul 1993, Park City 1994, Skagen 1994, Düsseldorf 1994$, Kobe 1994, Kyoto 1994, Stockholm 1995, Sigtuna 1995, Vienna 1996, Barcelona 1997, San Diego 1999, Brussels 1999, Taos 2000, New York City 2000, San Antonio 2000, Kiel 2000*, Jerusalem 2000, Eilat 2000, Basel 2000*, Paris 2000*, Mexico City 2000, Cancun 2000, Hamburg 2001*, Stockholm 2001^$, Jakarta 2001*, Medan 2001*, Surabaya 2001*, Basel 2001*, Rome 2002*, Munich 2004^$, Krakow 2005*, Basel 2005*, Athens 2005^$, Copenhagen 2006*, London 2007*, Mariehamn 2007*, Uppsala 2007*

Memberships in professional associations

Swedish society of medicine, Swedish medical association, Upsala medical association, Stockholm medical association, Scandinavian society for the study of diabetes, European association for the study of diabetes, American diabetes association (and its council on molecular, cellular and biochemical aspects of diabetes), juvenile diabetes foundation international, biochemical society, New York academy of sciences, Swedish societies for endocrinology, diabetology and internal medicine.

Scientific

List of publications: See separate enclosure.
Editorial Board: Clinical Science, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.
Ad hoc reviewer: Experimental Cell Research (since 1989), Biochemical Pharmacology, Diabetologia, Lancet, FEBS Letters, Diabetes, FASEB Journal, Biochemical Journal, FEBS Journal, Endocrinology, Journal of Internal Medicine, European Cytokine Network, Vascular Health and Risk Management, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Biomarker Insights, Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, Biochim Biophys Acta, Medical Science Monitor, Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolism, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, Pharmacological Research, Archives of Medical Research, Life Sciences, Diabetic Medicine, Journal of the Pancreas (Expert Editor), Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, Blood Pressure, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, Journal of Neuroscience Research, American Journal of Physiology, Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy, Journal of Endocrinology, British Journal of Pharmacology, Pediatric Research, Clinical Endocrinology, Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology, Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, Journal of the Swedish Medical Association, European Journal of Heart Failure, and Acta Pathologica Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica (APMIS).

Book reviewer for The New England Journal of Medicine. Reviewer of research applications to local scientific committees ("FoUU"). Member of the Scientific Council of the Medikament Journal. External reviewer of candidates for Professor of Molecular Biology, University of South Alabama, U.S.A. External reviewer for the European Commission (2003-), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2006-), Israeli Science Foundation (1998-), Spanish Ministry of Health (2006-), Agence Nationale de la Recherche Inserm (2006-), and European Foundation for the Study Diabetes (2007-).

Ph.D. programs

Honors and awards

Hennerlöf's Foundation (Swedish Society of Medicine), 1985; Svea Andersson's Award (Swedish Medical Association), 1986. Young Investigators Award (Scandinavian Society for the Study of Diabetes), 1993. Eli Lilly/EASD Research Award in Diabetes and Metabolism (European Association for the Study of Diabetes), 1994. Jubilee Prize (Swedish Endocrine Society), 1999. EASD/Sankyo Insulin Resistance Project Award (European Association for the Study of Diabetes), 2001. Alvarenga Prize (Swedish Society of Medicine), 2001. Best Scientific Publication 2004 (Swedish Society for Diabetology; together with Thomas Nyström et al).

Network and international collaboration

Since 1991, I have actively pursued extensive collaborative work with several international investigators, e.g. Professor George A. Cook (Memphis, TN) on regulation of islet CPT-1 and fatty acid metabolism by sulfonylureas; Professor Marc Prentki (Montreal) and Barbara E. Corkey (Boston, MA) on nutrient signaling in beta cells; Professor Richard E. Honkanen (Mobile, AL) on reversible protein phosphorylation by ser/thr protein phosphatases in beta cell signal transduction and glucose sensing; Professor Nick Dean, Isis Corp (Calif) on antisense oligonucleotide strategies against ser/thr protein phosphatases; Professor Bob Cooney (Honolulu, HI) on nitric oxide and islet dysfunction in type-1 diabetes; Alexandre M. Efanov (Eli Lilly inc., Hamburg) on islet glucose sensing; Virgil Hoftiezer and Patrick Bankston (Gary, IN) on B-cell ultrastructure; Jean Zwiller (Strasbourg) on protein phosphatases; G Mayr (Hamburg) on protein phosphatases; Bob Michell (Birmingham, UK) on inositol polyphosphates; Valur Emilsson (Buckingham, UK) on leptin signalling; Lise Binderup (Lövens Pharmaceutical Inc., Copenhagen) on antitumoral drug signalling; Per Arkhammar (Novo, Copenhagen) on Ca²⁺ handling. All these collaborations have proven very successful and given rise to a dozen joint publications. I also collaborate extensively with national diabetes researchers, e.g. Professor Bo Ahrén and Professor Patrik Rorsman (Lund), Håkan Carlqvist (Astra Zeneca), Gunnar Lilja (Sachsska Children's Hospital), Olle Korsgren, Rolf Larsson, Peter Nygren, Sara Ekelund, Arne Andersson, and Nils Welsh (all Uppsala), including plans for shared graduate students.

Research funding (with Å.S. as P.I.)

Various

Faculty opponent, Lund University 2000; Karolinska Institutet 2006. Lecturer and consultant for pharmaceutical companies (e.g. Novartis, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Selena-Fournier, Novo Nordisk, Glaxo Smith Kline, Eli Lilly, MSD, Aventis). Organized three symposia on insulin resistance and postprandial hyperglycemia, Swedish Society of Medicine, 2001-3.