Professor Tomas Hökfelt

Senior Fellow of Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, City University of Hong Kong

Professor at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Member of Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences

Member of the Academia Europaea

Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Sciences

Professor Tomas Hökfelt

Contact Information

Web: Personal Homepage
Dr. Tomas Hokfelt, M.D., Ph.D., is the Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Neurome, Inc. Dr. Hokfelt, a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, is a world leader in the mapping of chemical components in neurotransmission in the brain. He pursued his undergraduate medical studies at Karolinska Institutet, where he also earned his Ph.D. and M.D. In 1969, he was appointed assistant professor at the Swedish Medical Research Council. In 1979, Dr. Hökfelt became Professor in Histology with Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet and he served as the vice chairman of its Department of Neuroscience from 1993-1999. Dr. Hökfelt is the recipient of over 15 major awards for his neuroscience research, including two awards from the Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm (1978 and 1979), The New York Academy of Sciences Award in Biological and Medical Sciences (1985), the Artois-Baillet Latour Health Prize (1987), The Bristol-Myers Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research (1988), Anders Jahre's Prize (1990), and The Eli Lilly Preclinical Research Award (1991). Dr. Hökfelt is a Foreign Associate member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), and has been named Fogarty International Scholar at the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Maryland), Associate of Neuroscience Research Program (Boston and New York), Honorary Member of the American Physiological Society, and Honorary Member of the Centre for Neuroscience, University College (London). Additionally, he is a Member of the International Scientific Programme Committee for the Sixth IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience, Member and Chairman of the Committee of the Dargut and Milena Kemali Foundation, Member of the Nobel Assembly, and Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Neuroscience of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai.

Member of the Review Board and Positions as:

  • 1978 : Assistant professor of anatomy University of Oslo, Norway
  • 1980 : Professor of anatomy University of Århus, Denmark
  • 1981 : Professor of neurophysiology, KI
  • 1984 : Professor of neurobiology, KI
  • 1988 : Professor of clinical brain research, KI
  • 1989 : Professor of neuroanatomy University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 1992 : Professor of medicine (anatomy) University of Oslo, Norway

Member of Editorial Board

  • Brain Research
  • European Journal of Neuroscience
  • Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy
  • Journal of Comparative Neurology
  • Molecular Neurobiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Neuropeptides
  • Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry

Member of Societies and Honours

  • 1977-89 : Associate of Neuroscience Research Program (Boston/New York)
  • 1981/82 : Fogarty International Scholar, NIH, Washington
  • 1984 : Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (USA)
  • 1984 : Honorary Member of the Finnish Histochemical Society
  • 1985 : Honorary Member of the Centre for Neuroscience, University College, London
  • 1985 : Honorary Member of the American Association of Anatomists
  • 1985 : Member of Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences
  • 1986 : Honorary Member of the Societas Scientiarum Fennica, Helsinki
  • 1988 : Guest professor at Collège de France, Paris (October)
  • 1989 : Member of Academia Europaea
  • 1990 : Honorary Member of the American Physiological Society
  • 1991 : Honorary Foreign Member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
  • 1991 : Honorary Member of the Japanese Anatomical Society
  • 1992 : Doctor h. c. at the University of Tampere (Tampere)
  • 1992 : Doctor h. c. at the University of Copenhagen (Copenhagen)
  • 1993 : Member of the Accademia Nazionale Dei Lincei (Roma)
  • 1994 : Honorary Director of the 4. Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China
  • 1996 : Member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
  • 1996 : Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1999 : Doctor h.c. at the University of Ferrara (Ferrara)
  • 1999 : Honorary Professor, Beijing Medical University (Beijing)
  • 2000 : Honorary Member of the Chinese Associaton of Pain (CASP)
  • 2000 : Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
  • 2001 : Doctor h.c. at University Victor-Ségalen-Bordeaux II
  • 2003 : Doctor h.c. at Austral University, Buenos Aires
  • 2003 : Corresponding External Member of the Academia Nacional De Medicina, Buenos Aires
  • 2004 : Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest)
  • 2011 : Foreign Associate of the Institute of Medicine

Member of International Boards, Committees and Organizations

  • 1976 : Member, Programme Committee for the 5th International Endocrinology Congress, Hamburg
  • 1977-80 : Member, Board of European Neuroscience Association
  • 1989-96 : Member, Advisory Board of the Center for Molecular Neurobiology (Hamburg)
  • 1991 : Member of the Programme Committee, Third IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience (Montreal)
  • 1991-1997 : Vice President, International Society of Neuroendocrinology
  • 1993- : Member, Govering Council of IBRO
  • 1993-96 : Member, Advisory Board of the Institute for Neurobiology (Magdeburg)
  • 1994 : Member, Programme Committee, Fourth IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience (Kyoto)
  • 1994-2004 : Member, Scientific Advisory Board of the Max-Planck-Institute for Experimental Medicine (Göttingen)
  • 1997-2002 : Member, Selection Committee for The Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research
  • 1998-2005 : Member, Scientific Advisory Board of the Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry (München)
  • 1999 : Member, International Programme Committee, Fifth IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience (Jerusalem)
  • 2002-2006 : Member, Advisory Board, Institute of Neuroscience of the Chinese Aca​​​​​​​demy of Sciences (Shanghai)
  • 1997-2013 : Chair/co-chair of the Scientific Committe of the Dargut and Milena Kemali Foundation
  • 2000-2004 : Member, Rammal Award Committe
  • 2003 : Member, International Scientific Programme Committee, Sixth IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience (Prag)
  • 2003 : Member, Review Committee for the Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience (Utrecht)
  • 2003 : Chairman, Jury for the ’Interbrew-Baillet Latour Health Prize 2003’ (Brussels)
  • 2004 : Member, Scientific Programme Committee, 17th ECNP Congress (Stockholm)
  • 2004-2010 : Adjunct Professor at the Harold and Dorris Neurological Institute, Department of Pharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla)
  • 2004-2006 : Member, Prize Committee for The Neuroscience Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation
  • 2005 : Chairman of the Jury for the InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize (Psychiatry) (Brussels)
  • 2005-2006 : Member, Advisory Board, Osaka Bioscience Institute
  • 2005 : Chairman, Evaluation Panel for the NEURO Programme of the Academy of Finland
  • 2007 : Member, Jury for the InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize (Neuroscience)(Brussels)
  • 2007- : Honorary Consultant, Capital University Beijing
  • 2007-2009 : Consultant, The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation
  • 2009-2011 : Trustee, The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation
  • 2009-2013 : Trustee, The Dargut and Milena Kemali Foundation
  • 2009-2010 : Chair, Award Committee ECNP Prize
  • 2010-2013 : Vice-chairman, Selection Committee, The Brain Prize (Copenhagen)
  • 2012 : Member, Jury for the InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize (Neuroscience)(Brussels)

Awards

  • 1978 : Florman's Award (Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm)
  • 1979 : Hilda and Alfred Eriksson's Prize (Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm) (together with K. Fuxe)
  • 1979 : Anders Jahre's Prize for young scientists (Oslo) (together with S. Olsnes)
  • 1979 : Erik Fernström's Prize for young scientists (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm) (together with K. Fuxe)
  • 1984 : The Jubilee Prize of the Association of Swedish Physicians (Stockholm)
  • 1985 : The New York Academy of Sciences Award in Biological and Medical Sciences (New York) (together with K. Fuxe)
  • 1987 : The Golgi Award (Fidia Research Institute) (Washington)
  • 1987 : The Artois-Baillet Latour Health Prize (Brussels) (together with V. Mutt)
  • 1988 : The Bristol-Myers Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience Research (New York) (together with W. Nauta and T.P.S. Powell)
  • 1990 : Anders Jahre's Prize (University of Oslo, Oslo)
  • 1991 : F. O. Schmitt Award in Neuroscience (Rockefeller University, New York)
  • 1991 : The Eli Lilly Preclinical Research Award
  • 1998 : The Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Research Grant in Neuroscience
  • 2000 : The Foundation Ipsen Neuronal Plasticity Prize (Paris)
  • 2000 : The 2. Fleur Strand Award in Neuropeptide Research (Montreal)
  • 2002 : The Neuropsychiatric Research Award of the Pasarow Foundation (Los Angeles)
  • 2005 : Prix Communication & Régulation Endocriniennes, Fondation Ipsen (Paris/Gothenburg)
  • 2006 : The Sandy L. Palay Award for Structural Neuroscience together with K.Fuxe)
  • 2007 : The Anders Retzius Medal (Stockholm)
  • 2007 : Grand Medaille, Academie des Sciences (Paris)
  • 2008 : 1st Institute of Neurobiology Lecture and Medal, Queretaro, Mexico
  • 2008 : H. M. the King’s Medal (gold, 8th size, with the Ribbon of the Order of Seraphim for Distinguished Achievements in Medical Research) (Stockholm)
  • 2009 : ISA Medal for Science, University of Bologna
  • 2011 : The Big Silver Medal, Karolinska Institutet
  • 2012 : The Erasmus Medal, Academia Europaea
  • 2012 : The Cajal Club Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2012 : Golden Kraepelin Medal (Munich)

Edited Books and Reviewed Journal Issues

  • Central Adrenaline Neurons. Basic Aspects and their Role in Cardiovascular Functions. The Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series, Vol. 30, 1979. Eds: K. Fuxe, M. Goldstein, B. Hökfelt and T. Hökfelt. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
  • Coexistence of Neuronal Messengers: A New Principle in Chemical Transmission. Progress in Brain Research, Vol. 68, 1986. Eds: T. Hökfelt, K. Fuxe and B. Pernow. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
  • Galanin, A New Multifunctional Peptide in the Neuro-endocrine System. Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series, Vol. 58, 1990. Eds. T. Hökfelt, T. Bartfai, D. Jacobowitz and D. Ottoson. MacMillan Press, Basingstoke.
  • Neuropeptides, Nociception and Pain, 1994. Eds: T. Hökfelt, H.-G. Schaible and R. F. Schmidt. Chapman & Hall, Weinheim.
  • Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Neurotransmitter Release. In: Advances in Second Messenger and Phosphoprotein Research. Vol. 29, 1994. Eds.: L. Stjärne, P.Greengard, S. E. Grillner, T. G. M. Hökfelt and D. R. Ottoson. Raven Press, New York.
  • Challenges and Perspectives in Neuroscience. The Wenner-Gren International Series, Vol. 66, 1995. Eds: D. Ottoson, T. Bartfai, T. Hökfelt and K. Fuxe. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
  • Life and Death in the Nervous System (in honour of Håkan Persson). Role of Neurotrophic Factors and their Receptors. Wenner-Gren International Series, Vol. 67, 1995. Eds: C.F. Ibánez, T. Hökfelt, L. Olson, K. Fuxe, H. Jörnvall and D. Ottoson. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
  • Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Communication (in honour of Nils-Åke Hillarp). Wenner-Gren International Series, Vol. 68, 1996. Eds. K. Fuxe, T. Hökfelt, L. Olson, D. Ottoson, A. Dahlström and A. Björklund. Pergamon Press/Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford.
  • Towards an Understanding of Integrative Brain Functions. Analyses at Multiple Levels. Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 103. Brain Research Reviews, Vol. 26, 1998. Eds: K. Fuxe, S. Grillner, T. Hökfelt, L. Olson and L.F. Agnati. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
  • Galanin. Basic Research Discoveries and Therapeutic Implications. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 863, 1999. Eds. T. Hökfelt, T. Bartfai and J. Crawley. Special Issue on Galanin (Galanin and Its Receptors: The Third International Symposium, San Diego, 2004). Neuropeptides, 39/3, 125-359, 2005. Eds. T. Hökfelt and J. Crawley.
  • A Century of Neuroscience Discovery: Reflecting on the Nobel Prize to Golgi and Cajal in 1906. Brain Research Reviews Vol. 55 (191-498) 2007. Eds. L.W Swanson, G. Grant, S. Grillner, T. Hökfelt, E.G. Jones and J. Morrison.
  • Galanin – 25 Years with a Multitalented Neuropeptide. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 65/12, 1791-1879, 2008. Guest Ed. T. Hökfelt.
  • Galanin. Experientia Supplementum, Vol. 102, 2010. Ed. T. Hökfelt. Springer, Basel.
  • Handbook of Chemical Neuroanatomy. Vols. I-XXI, 1983-2004. Series Eds. A. Björklund and T. Hökfelt. Elsevier, Amsterdam.