From Medicon Valley to Silicon Valley

SACC-SF/SV Celebrates Swedish Women at the Forefront of Medical Research  

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• Sweden, long a vanguard of medical research, drug discovery and the development of revolutionary medical treatments, now finds itself at the intersection of medicine and technology.

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  Karin Rosén

• Swedish research institutions, including world-leading medical university Karolinska Institutet, are actively integrating cutting-edge disciplines, such as nanotechnology and biotechnology, into medical research. The Öresund Region, home to Europe's largest and most dynamic cluster of life science companies and research institutions, in what is now called "the Medicon Valley,” completes the country's synergetic circle of medical industry, medical research and medical practitioners.

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  Kerstin Rosén

• In America, and particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, highly competitive medical university and research environments coupled with close collaboration between research and industry has long brought about phenomenal success in these same new medical areas. (During the past 50 years, 76 of the Nobel Prize laureates in medicine have been employed by American universities.) And so outstanding Swedish medical researchers and practitioners continue to come to the San Francisco Bay Area, to learn and infuse Swedish know-how into the exchange of knowledge between the United States and their home country.

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  Gunilla Jacobsson

• The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce has invited three dynamic Swedish Bay Area medical researchers to share their inspiring stories at the second event in the chamber’s SofaTalks series, entitled “Women in Medicine” on May 28. In the sophisticated surroundings of Danish design store BoConcept, doctors Gunilla Jacobsson, Karin Rosén and Kerstin Rosén will take part in what promises to be a scintillating conversation on their pathways to success and the challenges they have faced along the road.

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  SofaTalks Logo

• Gunilla Jacobson, PhD in organic chemistry, recently returned to Stanford University after two years at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center at Karolinska Institutet. Gunilla has spent 18 years working in her area of special expertise of nanotechnology and nanomedicine, with specific focus on drug delivery, nanoparticle formation and in vivo imaging. Gunilla particularly enjoys her work as a researcher — in Sweden and now at Stanford: The days I spend in the lab are most rewarding, that's where you finally see if your ideas work.”

• Karin Rosén, MD PhD, is group medical director at Genentech Inc where she leads an international team of biotechnology professionals and medical scientists. She has been published in numerous scientific journals and was previously a member of the European Commission's Life Sciences Expert Panel. Dr. Rosén has worked across all stages of medical research in academia and in the public and private sectors, and she contributed her talents to international bio-pharmaceutical companies which include Pharmacia Biotech, Genzyme and Aradigm. Commenting on her work at Genentech, Karin says, “To be able to help patients with severe illness to a better life is a privilege.”

• Kerstin Rosén, MD, is a pediatric physician at Kaiser Permanente and assistant clinical professor at Stanford University with 20 years of experience as a health care professional. With the inception of the Affordable Care Act, Kerstin joined with Kaiser Permanente to help improve efficiency and quality of care by enhancing physician education, health education for patients, innovation and medical communication. Kerstin, commenting on her goals at Kaiser and at Stanford, says, “In my experience, if you do your research, provide that data and equip people with the right tools by simply educating them, change has a much better chance of taking place." 

• Event Info
  Wednesday, May 28, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
  BoConcept Store, 1 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

• About SofaTalks
  SACC-SF/SV’s SofaTalks series celebrate successful women in the Bay Area while providing a unique forum for professionals to network in a convivial and relaxed environment. The aim is to create a broader cross-cultural perspective to discussions surrounding women’s issues and ignite conversations that inspire women to achieve their goals.

• By Sofia Englund
  PR&Communication, SACC San Francisco/Silicon Valley