Jan Holmgren

Jan Roland Holmgren (born in Borås, Sweden) is a Swedish physician, microbiologist, immunologist, and vaccinologist, known for his research on cholera and mucosal immunology, specifically, for his leadership in developing "the world's first effective oral cholera vaccine".

Biography At the University of Gothenburg, Holmgren graduated in 1965 with a bachelor of medicine degree, in 1969 with a Ph.D., and in 1973 with an M.D. His 1969 doctoral dissertation dealt with immunological aspects of urinary tract infections in children. At the University of Gothenburg, he was appointed in 1969 a docentry and in 1970 an associate professorship. From 1971 to 1980 he held research positions at the Swedish Medical Research Council. In 1980 he was appointed to the University of Gothenburg's professorial chair in medical microbiology and immunology as successor to Örjan Ouchterlony upon the latter's retirement. In addition to his professorship, Holmgren was appointed founding director of the Göteborg University Vaccine Research Institute (GUVAX), which was created in 2002. He is the author or co-author of more than 600 scientific papers.

Holmgren’s research has focused primarily on mucosal vaccine development as well as disease and immune mechanisms of cholera and other mucosal infections. Holmgren and colleagues first described the AB subunit structure and function of cholera toxin and identified the cholera toxin receptor, the GM1 ganglioside, then the first-ever structurally defined biologic receptor molecule. They were also the first to describe mucosal immune protection and memory in cholera. and the Söderbergska Prize of the Swedish Medical Society. He received in 2017 the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal and in 2018 the Prince Mahidol Award in Public Health. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science and the Swedish Academy of Engineering. He was a board member of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation from 1995 to 2017 and has served on the boards of other national and international organizations for research on vaccines, infections, and global health; the other organizations include the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI).

He married Ann-Mari Svennerholm, who was his first Ph.D. student. They have worked together since 1970. They have a son and two daughters.

Selected publications