Felice Frankel awarded for crystal-clear scientific images

The Lennart Nilsson Award is given out annually in honour of the internationally celebrated Karolinska Institutet photographer. As with the Swedish photographer’s own images, Felice Frankel’s work reveals previously invisible aspects of the world in unique, novel ways. Her subjects range from nanotechnology to magnetism and the surface tension of water droplets.

“In studying Ms. Frankel’s work, I recognize my own way of looking at the world. We share the same passion for using images to explain and communicate science,” says Lennart Nilsson.

In selecting Felice Frankel, the board of the Lennart Nilsson Foundation stated: “Those viewing Ms. Frankel’s images are initially captivated by their form and colour. No sooner is their curiosity aroused than they want to know what the photograph depicts. She has thus fulfilled a scientific reporter’s paramount task: to awaken people’s interest and desire to learn.”

Felice Frankel began her academic career in biology, but then moved on to architectural and landscape photography. During a fellowship year at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, she turned once again to science, beginning work in her present specialty. Today, she is a Senior Research Fellow at the Initiative in Innovative Computing at Harvard University and also holds an appointment as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Throughout her professional life, Felice Frankel has worked to make visual imagery a key tool in scientific communication. Her photographs, like Nilsson’s, have often been reproduced on the covers of leading science magazines like Nature and Science. She writes a regular column in American Scientist, and has published a series of books. Her latest – Envisioning Science: The Design and Craft of the Science Image (MIT Press, 2002) – is a guide to creating visual scientific images that convey research to a wider audience. Felice Frankel lectures regularly about scientific photography and new methods of using images to improve the teaching of science.

The Lennart Nilsson Award was established in 1998 and is administered by Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. The Award of 100,000 SEK (approximately 15,600 USD) will be presented in Berwaldhallen concert hall in Stockholm on the first of November 2007. The occasion will also host the annual installation of professors at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden’s largest centre for medical research and training and the home of the Nobel Assembly. Lennart Nilsson will be present at the ceremony.

Invitation to public lecture by Felice Frankel
Karolinska Institutet and the Lennart Nilsson Award Foundation will host an open lecture by Felice Frankel. Time and location: 31 October 2007, 5:30 p.m. at Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 1 in Solna, Stockholm. Members of the media are also welcome to attend the award ceremony in Stockholm on the first of November. Please register in advance at: pressinfo@ki.se.

Lennart Nilsson Award website: http://www.lennartnilssonaward.se

Felice Frankel’s website: http://iic.harvard.edu/people/felicef/

For further information, please contact:

Staffan Larsson, Secretary of the Board, Lennart Nilsson Award Foundation
Phone: +46-(0)70-319 3353
E-mail: staffan.larsson@biosci.ki.se

Sabina Bossi, Press Officer, Karolinska Institutet
Phone: +46 (0)8-524 860 66
E-mail: sabina.bossi@ki.se

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