Ulrika Ådén new Secretary General for Medicine and Health

The Swedish Research Council’s new Secretary General for Medicine and Health is Ulrika Ådén, who has been a professor at Karolinska Institutet and a senior consultant in neonatology at Karolinska University Hospital since 2016. Since 2022, she has also held an endowed professorship and is a senior consultant in paediatrics at Linköping University.

“I believe my experience of both pre-clinical and clinical research at various universities provides a good background for leading the work in medicine and health at the Swedish Research Council,” says Ulrika Ådén.

Her research focuses on how the brain’s basic functions develop during childhood. She has a background in pre-clinical research and has so far combined clinical work as a paediatrician with both experimental and clinical research. International collaboration is close to Ulrika Ådén’s heart. She has a broad international network of contacts.

“I know how important it is to promote collaboration with researchers in other countries.”

Ulrika Ådén has also held various leadership roles both within and outside academia. She has previously served as chair of the Swedish Paediatric Society and is editor-in-chief of a textbook on neonatology. She also has experience as chair of the Swedish Research Council’s review panel for research applications in the field of women’s and children’s health.

Ensuring that research findings have an impact is another driver for Ulrika Ådén.

”I want to contribute to a stronger impact of research in Healthcare, policy and society.”

Ulrika Ådén will take up her post as the new Secretary General for Medicine and Health on 1 September 2026.