KI’s Per Uhlén honored with Lennart Nilsson Award today
Per Uhlén, professor of cell signaling at Karolinska Institutet (KI), receives the 2026 Lennart Nilsson Award today at KI’s professorial installation ceremony in Aula Medica. He is honored for developing advanced microscopy methods that visualize the fundamental processes of life.
October 8, 2026
Uhlén’s techniques make it possible to explore cell signaling at both the cellular and organ level, with a particular focus on neuroscience and cancer. A central part of his work involves making dense tissue transparent, so that entire intact organs can be imaged in 3D down to cellular resolution. This gives researchers new insight into how cells interact in both healthy and diseased tissue.
“Being able to visualize what was previously hidden from the eye has always fascinated me,” says Uhlén, who is based at KI’s Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics. “Seeing an entire organ in 3D fundamentally changes our understanding of biological processes.”
He is the winner of the 2025 Lennart Nilsson Award
Doctor Maximilian Ackermann, currently working as a Professor of Pathology at the RWTH University Clinics Aachen and Helios University Hospital Wuppertal, Germany, and as anatomist at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is awarded the 2025 Lennart Nilsson Award for his outstanding contributions to scientific imaging, revealing critical insights into diseases, such as COVID-19 and cancer.
Mapping RNA in entire organs
Uhlén’s research group has developed methods for mapping proteins and RNA across entire organs. The team is now refining its TRISCO protocol to enable 3D mapping of RNA molecules, working closely with basic researchers at KI and clinicians at Karolinska University Hospital.
“Our aim is to be able to study a wide variety of RNA molecules in an entire organ at the same time,” Uhlén says.
Tools for other researchers
Uhlén has also set up and led advanced microscopy facilities at Karolinska Institutet that many other research groups use. According to the jury, his work combines technical perfection with an aesthetic and pedagogical brilliance that highlights the beauty of biological specimens, “entirely in the spirit of Lennart Nilsson.”
“It’s a great honor to be awarded the Lennart Nilsson Award,” Uhlén says. “The award also very much belongs to my research colleagues and partners.”
Lennart Nilsson Award is awarded to Xiaowei Zhuang
Xiaowei Zhuang is the recipient of the 2017 Lennart Nilsson Award for making breakthrough discoveries in the beautiful world of cell biology, literally making the invisible visible, with the STORM technique that was developed in her laboratory. Xiaowei Zhuang is the David B. Arnold Professor of Science at Harvard University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute […]
The Lennart Nilsson Award Foundation was established in 1998 in tribute to the Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson. Its annual prize rewards outstanding contributions to science photography.
Published: October 8, 2026
