Karl-Johan Malmberg, Director, Precision Immunotherapy Alliance, Professor at The University of Oslo, shared a post by Gunnar Kaufmann, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Open Innovation – Kyowa Kirin, Inc. – U.S., adding:
“So inspiring to take part in this beautiful celebration, listen to the stories behind the discoveries, meet friends and colleagues who share the passion for natural killer cell biology. I am convinced that we will find ways to direct the functional potential of NK cells to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases and I don’t think we need to wait another 50 years to see this happen.”
Quoting Gunnar Kaufmann’s post:
“Yesterday I attended the symposium to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NK cell discovery (‘NK50 Symposium’) held at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. It was a fantastic event rich with personal anecdotes, historical context, stories about paradigm shifting discoveries, and exciting scientific presentations about current topics in NK cell research.
The highlights for me were the ‘eye witness’ reports from the 3 Titans of NK cell research – Rolf Kiessling (NK cell discovery), Hans Wigzell (NK cell discovery), and Klas Kärre (‘missing self hypothesis). Other giants of the field, including Wayne Yokoyama (NK inhibitory and activating receptors), Lewis Lanier (NK cell markers and signaling adaptors) and Eric Vivier (ITIM/ITAM containing NK cell proteins and their potential for NK cell-mediated therapy) also presented on their significant contributions to the field.
Sadly, Eva Klein, who had made essential contributions to the discovery of NK cells, passed away earlier this year but she was remembered and honored at the beginning of the event.
The symposium ended on another high note with an optimistic and visionary presentation by Karl-Johan Malmberg on the future of NK cell immunotherapies followed by a lively reception on the historic Karolinska Institutet campus in Solna/Stockholm.
I would like to thank and congratulate the organizers Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, Andreas Lundqvist, Carin Dahlberg, Arnika Wagner, Jonas Sundbäck, Benedict Chambers and Evren Alici for hosting such a successful and historic event.
I’m excitedly looking forward to the next 50 years of NK cell research.”
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