Katarina Svanberg

Katarina Svanberg (born December 11, 1944) is a Swedish physician who is Professor and Chief Consultant of Oncology at the Skåne University Hospital. Her research considers the use of fluorescence-based tumour imaging and photodynamic therapy. She served as President of SPIE in 2011 and was awarded the SPIE Gold Medal in 2017.

Early life and education Svanberg was born in Falköping and grew up in Mariestad. Her parents had both grown up without much money, and lost their brothers and sisters because they did not have access to appropriate medical care. Svanberg was their only child and, whilst neither had attended school beyond sixth grade, they worked to ensure she could attend university.

Working alongside her husband, Svanberg established the Lund University Medical Laser Centre.

Awards and honours 1995 The Royal Scientific Society Interdisciplinary Research Prize 2004 SKAPA Innovation Prize in memory of Alfred Nobel 2006 SPIE Women in Optics Planner 2007 Innovator Award, Society for Industrial Development 2014 Elected Fellow of the Electromagnetics Academy 2015 National Institutes of Health Bench-to-Bedside Pioneer Award 2017 SPIE Gold Medal

Academic service Svanberg has been involved with the promotion of optics and photonics. She was appointed to the European Laser Association in 1998. Svanberg joined the board of directors of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, in 2005. She was elected Vice President of SPIE in 2009, and eventually serving as president in 2011. She was a member of the steering committee for the International Year of Light efforts in 2015.

Selected publications

Personal life Svanberg is married to Sune Svanberg, physicist and member of the Nobel Committee for Physics.