Johan Rockberg awarded for his ability to share
Johan Rockberg, professor in antibody technology at the CBH School, has been awarded the Life Science Star Award for ”Sharing is Caring” by Sweden Bio. The organization has handed out four awards to life science ambassadors for outstanding contributions pushing the frontiers of life science.
"I am very happy and surprised to receive this award, handed out by the Swedish industry organization for Life science companies and interest organizations. As a recipient, it is always hard to know exactly how the designators have thought when choosing, but what is mentioned in the motivation is that I am described as “an important piece of our life science’s ecosystem puzzle”. My hope is to have contributed making KTH a welcoming meeting place for discussing and addressing challenges within biopharmaceutical development from different angles and that some of the experts of this ecosystem now have found ways to advance in their challenges through help of others," says Johan Rockberg.
The organization writes that it takes boldness and an open mindset to be in the first line of sharing. What are your thoughts on this?
"When you’re going to do something for the first time, which both researchers and product developers constantly do, good advice from others who have done it before is worth gold – unfortunately it is does not always come easy for everyone to do this, unconsciously or not. Here, I think we have a tradition at KTH in both listening, giving feedback, making know-how and equipment accessible, directing further, pointing at collaborations and avoiding seeing external parties as competitors to us, but instead as important parts of a community."
What does this award mean to you?
"I am very happy about it and something I did not expect at all. Furthermore, I think that it is a spur for me to continue conducting interdisciplinary and applied research. Further I hope it also inspires colleagues at KTH and outside and that they feel noticed and inspired as well by prize and willing to continue working with the interdisciplinary collaborations we are so dependent on to develop new drug therapies and make them accessible to the patients in need."
Text: Sabina Fabrizi