Markus Heilig in the laboratory
Photo Peter Holgersson

2018 Söderberg Prize in Medicine for research on alcoholism

Markus Heilig, Professor of Psychiatry at Linköping University, receives the 2018 Söderberg Prize in Medicine for important research contributions to the understanding of affective disorders and alcoholism.

- "Markus Heilig is a very worthy recipient of the Söderberg Prize in Medicine", says Stefan Lindgren, Chairman of the Swedish Medical Society and the Prize Committee. "Heilig is an internationally well-established and respected researcher in the field of stress and addiction research, whose research has had, and continues to have, great significance for both basic neuroscience and clinical applications in psychiatry and addiction care, resulting in approximately 250 peer-reviewed publications and around 10 000 citations.

Markus Heilig has made several important original discoveries. Early in his career, he discovered an endogenous anti-stress system, Neuropeptide Y and its receptors. He has also demonstrated the role of another stress-related system, Substance P and its receptors, in controlling alcohol intake, and the role of the amygdala, a brain structure central to fear and anxiety, in increasing alcohol intake. In clinical trials, Heilig helped lay the groundwork for the treatment of heroin addiction with the drug buprenorphine. In current research, the Heilig group studies processes that govern choices between alcohol and healthy, natural rewards. From 2004-2015 he was Clinical Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

- "I'm incredibly honored, but also very humbled," says Markus Heilig when he receives the award. 'Most of our work remains to be done. But I hope the award can shine a spotlight on the needs of addicted patients and the possibilities of meeting them through research.

This year's prize was awarded on May 28 at a seminar at the Swedish Medical Society.

Markus Heilig in the lectern at the award ceremony.
Professor Marcus Heilig during the award lecture at the Swedish Medical Society. Photo Lasse Skog.
Markus Heilig
Markus Heilig is since 2015 Professor at the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience (CSAN), Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University. He has made several important original discoveries. These include an endogenous anti-stress system, Neuropeptide Y and its receptors, and demonstrating the importance of another stress-related system in controlling alcohol intake. Heilig helped lay the foundation for the treatment of heroin addiction with the drug buprenorphine. His research team studies processes that control choices between alcohol and natural rewards.

Markus Heilig, LiU