Karolinska Institutet Awards Honorary Degree to Feinstein Institute CEO Kevin J. Tracey, MD

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm today awarded an honorary post-doctoral degree to Kevin J. Tracey, MD, director and chief executive officer of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090515/DC17878)

Dr. Tracey, a neurosurgeon whose work has helped unravel how the brain communicates with the immune system, joins a long and distinguished list of scientists who have received this honor from the Karolinska Institutet, including Nobel Prize winners Paul Greengard, PhD, and Torsten Weisel, PhD, both at Rockefeller University in Manhattan.

Each year, the Karolinska Institutet awards three honorary degrees to scientists selected by the Karolinska's Board of Research. Others honored today by the Karolinska at Stockholm City Hall were Hakan Mogren, one of Sweden's most prominent figures within trade and industry, and Ulla Fohrer, a speech therapist and researcher at Karolinska Institutet. The three honorees received their doctoral hats, diplomas and rings from the Dean of Research as confirmation of their new status.

Dr. Tracey's discoveries have paved the way for the development of new medicines to treat chronic rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and infection. He has made considerable contributions towards improving knowledge of regulating inflammatory processes.

The Karolinska Institutet is one of the leading medical universities in Europe. Through research and education, the Karolinska Institutet contributes to improving human health. Each year, the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In 2008, the Karolinska Institutet and the Feinstein Institute signed a collaborative agreement that paves the way for Karolinska graduates to conduct post-doctoral research in New York and scientists from the Feinstein to study at the Karolinska's laboratories in Stockholm.

About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research: Headquartered in Manhasset, NY, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is home to international scientific leaders in cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, human genetics, neuroimmunology, and medicinal chemistry. Feinstein researchers are developing new drugs and drug targets, and producing results where science meets the patient, annually enrolling some 10,000 subjects into clinical research programs.

SOURCE The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research