Katarina Le Blanc received her M.D. from the Karolinska Institutet in 1993, and her Ph.D. from the Karolinska Institutet in 1999. In 2002 she became a certified specialist in hematology. Dr. Le Blanc’s main research interest is mesenchymal stem cells, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and immunology.

Dr. Le Blanc is a member of several international and national committees, including the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet and The Royal Swedish Academy of Science. Dr. Le Blanc is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Life in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. She is also the member of several advisory boards and has been responsible for the organization of several national and international scientific meetings.

She has mentored many trainees, Ph.D. students and post docs over the years. Dr. Le Blanc has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications and review articles, been cited 30,000 times, and given some 200 presentations at various national and international meetings over the last 15 years. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation Award for young female researchers, the Swedish Medical Society Award for young scientists, and the Tobias Foundation Prize for the excellent studies of the immunological properties of mesenchymal stem cells and their use in mesenchymal stem cell therapy, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science.