Thomas Perlmann completed his undergraduate studies at Stockholm University and received his PhD from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, in 1991. After postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California, Dr. Perlmann established his independent research as an assistant professor at the Karolinska Institute. He currently holds a joint position at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Stockholm Branch and the Karolinska Institute where he is a full professor. Dr. Perlmann is interested in nuclear receptors and in the development of the central nervous system. His lab has discovered novel mechanisms influencing the development and survival of mesencephalic dopamine cells, most recently in a close collaboration with Johan Ericson, also a Professor at the Karolinska Institute. Perlmann received the Eric K. Fernström prize to young investigators in 1997 and the Göran Gustafsson prize in Molecular Biology in 1999. He has been a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) since 2003 and a member of the Nobel Assembly since 2006.