The prize for innovation and utilisation
The prize recognizes one or maximum three researchers/research students who have distinguished themselves through outstanding utilization of research results that have led to innovation. Anyone can nominate one or more candidates. Self-nominations are not accepted.
Björn Reinius and Joyce Noble awarded the Prize for innovation and utilisation 2025
Björn Reinius and Joyce Noble have developed a synthetic protection for RNA molecules that is stable and can be stored at room temperature. Their innovation simplifies aspects of biomedical research and enables new analytical methods.
Senior researcher Björn Reinius and research specialist Joyce Noble are awarded the Prize for Innovation and Utilisation 2025.
A major challenge is the need to protect RNA chains from degradation - a problem that the company Sequrna solves in a new way. Their work exemplifies how research needs can lead to groundbreaking innovations and economic benefits.
Justification from the prize committee:
"Björn Reinius and Joyce Noble have developed thermostable ribonuclease inhibitors with the potential to make a major impact in RNA research. RNA biology is an exploding field of research with great potential to create a deeper understanding of disease processes and to find novel treatments.
A major challenge in RNA sequencing is the need to protect RNA molecules from degradation – a problem that this year's laureates have successfully addressed in an innovative way. Existing products are biological inhibitors (proteins) produced with recombinant technology. These are expensive, thermosensitive, require frozen storage and are transported to the user laboratories on dry ice.
The instability and the fact that the production method leads to batch variation also impairs the reproducibility of biological experiments. The new ribonuclease inhibitors that Reinius and Noble have developed are synthetic, have no batch variation, can be produce at large scale, are highly stable and can be stored and transported at room temperature. This year's award winners exemplify well how a need in one's own research can lead to an innovation.
Taking the step of commercializing these discoveries and making the product available to other researchers whilst at the same time creating economic benefit is inspiring. Reinius has also demonstrated previously his entrepreneurial skills to achieve important societal benefit. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he used his knowledge to quickly establish new testing methods that came into wide use in healthcare with millions of diagnostic tests."
Earlier prize winners
The 2024 Prize for innovation and utilisation
Professor Jacob Hollenberg, associate professor Mattias Ringh and adjunct professor Leif Svensson were awarded the Prize for innovation and utilization, in 2024.
Together with the research group at the Cardiac Arrest Center and KI Innovations, they have developed the SMS lifesaver app. The app, which is now operated by the company Heartrunner, alerts volunteer so-called "lifesavers" to the place where someone has suffered a cardiac arrest.The volunteers initiate life-saving measures, which increase the chances of saving the life of the person who has suffered the cardiac arrest.
The prize committee's justification:
Jacob Hollenberg, Mattias Ringh and Leif Svensson have conducted research in the area of cardiac arrest for 20 years. They developed an idea to alert civilian volunteers to the scene of a cardiac arrest using an app on their mobile phones. The purpose of the alarm system was to increase the proportion of patients who receive early life-saving interventions in the form of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation, thereby significantly improving the chances of survival. Through curiosity, initiative, entrepreneurship and perseverance, they have succeeded in proving the usefulness of the system, and through the company they started - Heartrunner - have succeeded in implementing it in large parts of Sweden and throughout Denmark. Their innovation affects thousands of people every year who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. More than 250,000 participants have joined the project and they have presented research data in prestigious journals. Their data has also led to international recommendations to alert volunteer lifeguards across Europe.
The 2023 Prize for innovation and utilisation
Karolinska Institutet has decided to award Johan Hartman and Mattias Rantalainen.
Johan Hartman is a professor of tumour pathology at the Department of Oncology-Pathology and Mattias Rantalainen is an associate professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Both are co-founders of Stratipath, a private spin-off that aims to improve the diagnostic of cancer patients using AI.
They are rewarded for improving cancer diagnostics with innovative research and inspiring working methods,
The prize committee's justification:
"Johan Hartman and Mattias Rantalainen have a long track-record of innovative research within tumor pathology, machine learning and statistical modelling, with the aim to improve cancer diagnostics. They have succeeded in developing and commercializing a method for artificial intelligence-based analysis of microscopy images, which is now in clinical use for determining the risk for relapse in cancer after surgery. The product has a large potential in precision diagnostics in other diseases. Hartman and Rantalainen continue to combine academic research and entrepreneurship in an exemplary and inspiring manner and fulfill all criteria for recipients of the Prize for Innovation and Utilization."
Staffan Holmin was awarded the Prize for innovation and utilisation, 2022
Starting in 2022 Karolinska Institutet has awarded a prize for innovation and utilisation.
The prize will be awarded to one or more active researchers/research students (employed, adjunct or affiliated with KI).
If an individual cannot be considered to be behind the innovation on their own, a maximum of three people can share the prize.
Anyone can nominate one or more candidates.