The Academy has elected Prof. Jeffrey Friedman from the Rockefeller univ. in New York, and Prof. Karl Tryggvason, the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, as new foreign members of Class VII (Medicine).
Jeffrey Friedman is famous for his discovery and description of the leptine hormone system, which regulates the body mass and fat depot in mammals. These findings have contributed substantially to the understanding and treatment of human obesity. Leptin has also been shown to have neuroendocrinological functions.
Karl Tryggvason is an internatonally well-renowned expert on basal membranes. The understanding of these membranes are of great importance for elucidating kidney functions as well as a number of severe diseases, such as congenital muscular dystrophy.