My passion for languages started at Uppsala University. I was asked, ‘Are you studying humanities?` A little question that has shaped my life. Anu, my friend with the cake, is now working at a London hospital as an MD. She reminded me of times in Gothenburg where we met through science. I had arranged an early breakfast for PhD students at a French café, with croissants and coffee. Languages need to be constantly updated.

I had some photo glimpses in London that I am sharing. Suddenly, I have a special vibe for something that I try to catch. Below, I am sharing some sweet photo moments. My camera had to work some. I found a photo from 10 years ago in London. It really is before and after the COVID pandemic. I have more or less worn sports clothes these years and not cared so much about looks. I need to change. At least I have changed to high heels. I bought a VOGUE magazine for inspiration.

Today is devoted to the power step. My favorite training. Lots of coordination, strength, and fitness. Aiming for that before the COVID feeling.

Stay safe 🐾

Iran is practicing psychological warfare when they shut down all contact with the outside world. This indirectly affects all of us. By writing, I advocate for the freedom of speech that prevails in Sweden. Free speech is worth defending. Freedom under responsibility.

In the coming weeks, there will be some redecorating on this blog. I would like to thank Philip in Malmö, who has been my data support for many years. Currently, I get help from Michael and Peter. They will rebuild some, and there will be a migration of the blog. Moreover, I will resume my Twitter account, which will be my microblog from now on. When I saw what I had tweeted on X before, I became nostalgic. It was my book `Generations` that I wrote, and I had my sweet dog Lady (see below). Now it is Molly who supports me in the years to come. She has so much energy, and it is contagious.

I have always been interested in the international world, and I like to learn from the people I meet (see below). Ending the week by sharing a picture from August 2025 of a nice evening! We need to help each other to stay together in these troubled days.

 

To move forward, I need to remember, analyze, and find a new direction. I enjoy a little uphill, which has always pushed me forward. New drugs in the pharmacological toolbox are always needed, and for that, basic research is needed. I have fond memories from the years in experimental pharmacological research. The fruitless and hard days are forgotten. Research is demanding, and a lot of time is spent in the laboratory.

At Uppsala University, Professor Jarl Wikberg lectured in pharmacology and talked about digoxin’s pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics – the fate of a drug in the body (absorption, distribution, pharmacological effect, and elimination). The cardiac glycoside (see below) digoxin has a half-life of more than 24 hours, which is relatively long for a drug. Today, it is still in the clinic, and with a small blood test, you can adjust the dose to be correct. If you take too much, it becomes toxic; if you take too little, it has no effect. So to speak, a therapeutic window. I thought it sounded exciting that a plant can strengthen the heart’s ability to contract.

 

 

Professor Wikberg’s research group had cloned and sequenced the first G-protein-coupled melanocortin (MC) receptor in the rodent brain. It seemed very interesting, and I spent a semester in his department, where I was in the lab. Eventually, I got results that the MC-3 and MC-4 receptors had relatively distinct locations in the brain. The concrete results, which no one else had seen before, spurred me to search further. It was unique to discover what no one else in the world had seen before.

I finalized my pharmacy training with an internship in Gothenburg, and I was then lucky because I found a PhD program in Gothenburg. This research group, led by Professor Jörgen Engel, was internationally recognized and had a grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the USA.  I was able to devote myself to research in drug dependence.

Everyone at the Department of Pharmacology was talking about Professor Arvid Carlsson. He may have been mentioned at Uppsala University during the pharmacology course, but I don’t remember any of that. Of course, I wondered who this researcher was. At the very beginning of my studies, I was at a meeting at the Department of Pharmacology. I listened, and completely unprepared, I was asked what my research area would be.

English was spoken, and I quickly replied something about studying the importance of nicotine receptors in alcohol addiction. My supervisor immediately corrected me and added something about being in his “research group”. The old school could be felt in the walls. A little like the wooden desk with a lid that I had in elementary school, where school chalk gathered dust in the air. I got nervous because I was new to the department of pharmacology and, therefore, quickly looked down at my notes. This is my only meeting with this pioneer in neuropharmacology. Not only monoaminergic discoveries but also the presentation of chemical transmission in the central nervous system, to mention some.

I did not understand until later the importance that Professor Carlsson´s discoveries have had for the drugs that are available today in therapy areas such as the central nervous system, stomach, and cardiovascular system. He presented his ideas to various pharmaceutical companies, which resulted in drug therapies that are now in clinical practice worldwide. How could I have missed this during my years in Uppsala? I am reminded daily of his research work in my everyday work.

During my years as a doctoral student, I was fascinated by Goodman & Gilman’s pharmacology book. What is true today may be the opposite and/or unexpectedly new tomorrow. I read literature about different nicotine receptors and their functional significance. It is well known that alcohol intake is higher in those who use nicotine, and it is this observation that was the basis for further top-down analysis. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is an ion channel that phylogenetically is very old. How was I going to study at a cellular level, which nicotine receptors are important in the rewarding properties of alcohol? From behavior to cell.

 

 

My opponent in Gothenburg 2004 was Professor Agneta Nordberg, with dual exams as both an MD and a pharmacist (see above). She devotes her life to understanding the underlying pathology by using imaging techniques to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages. Acetylcholine-containing neurons deteriorate, which leads to memory difficulties. In the fall of 2014, I listened to one of her lectures at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. She uses brain imaging (PET-positron emission tomography) to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease (see below).

 

 

During the years I spent working in experimental pharmacology in Gothenburg, I followed research within genetics. Receptors had been cloned and sequenced. The importance of different genes for, for example, nicotine addiction in animal models was studied. From the first cell to moreover studying changes in, for example, behavior and other measurable parameters such as motor skills and biomarkers. My supervisor, Professor Engel, recommended a book about how Watson & Crick were able to make their great discovery in 1953, which I immediately read with great interest.

All the knowledge I gathered over the years resulted in my book ‘Generations’. Interestingly, it is now generally agreed that an Arctic-occurring mutation can lead to an aggressive form of Alzheimer’s disease. It is relatively unusual for a mutation to lead to disease so clearly. Today, an antibody has been found that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. It is well-known that early intervention is important in slowing the progression of the disease.

The ability to search for literature is extremely fundamental. One of the early goals of my diary was to work for freedom on the internet. Internet freedom has now ceased in Iran. A month or so ago, I was unable to search for literature as usual (see below). President Trump had cut research funding in the USA. However, at the time of writing, everything seems to have returned to normal!

 

 

The book ‘Generations’ was a challenge to write, where I was constantly looking for words and synonyms to describe everything from the smallest molecule to function with a vocabulary that I questioned many times. I am happy to be able to write. In the coming years, my challenge is to describe the interplay of genes with surrounding environmental factors, such as relationships between people, using only the humanities. As usual, it will take many years. Hope you will continue to follow this!

 

1. 1. 1. Biology (On cholinergic mechanisms involved in ethanol reinforcement) 2004
      2. Biology + Humanities (Generationer + Tid för Frihet)) 2018
      3. Humanities (  ) ????

 

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NOTE! I have not included any scientific references, as it would take me at least a week to compile. There are so many references.

In addition to Anna’s work as a preschool teacher, she has a great hobby, as I also do, namely singing. She sings a lot of opera while I write in my spare time. I look forward to continuing to listen to more pieces of music!

I write. The book ´Generations´, with my poetry collection, was supposed to end with a trip to Israel. The unrest in Ukraine spread, and I had to regroup and travel to France (Nice) and Spain (Barcelona) instead. The unrest in the Middle East has really picked up speed, with fundamentalists resorting to weapons and death. The Iranian regime responds by silencing its population to exclude contact with the outside world. In the heat of the moment, President Trump is also informally sharing the Norwegian Peace Prize with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. This probably prevented the USA from getting militarily involved in the Middle East.

In these troubled times, a leisure occupation is needed. Since I can only watch and not help, a feeling of helplessness arises. How can we ordinary people support people in need in other countries? We need something to do. I have long prepared a box of supplies in the country house where I grew up. This house was a refugee camp for Jews during World War II.

My friend has traveled to London to maintain her clinical knowledge as an MD. I will soon be traveling back and forth. Knowledge needs to be constantly updated. She is an MD, and I am a pharmacist. To travel to the UK, an application is now required. I filled out the application, attached my passport, but then? A selfie is required. I didn’t want to be without makeup, but wait! I will try to send a selfie that I already have.

My application was accepted with the photo below. The necklace is a gift from my colleagues at the department of Pharmacology. I will also need to renew my passport before traveling to Nepal. A visa is probably required there as well. Professor Trilok Pati Thapa (Thapa) and I have been in contact at least once a year for 20 years. He visited the Department of Pharmacology in Gothenburg, and I was assigned to show him our research group’s ongoing research.

Success in today’s medical treatments in neuropharmacology is largely dependent on animal experiments. I worked with mice and used microdialysis to study the dynamics between acetylcholine and dopamine. Professor Thapa got to meet the mice that preferred alcohol solution to water, and not least the mice that only wanted to drink water. He also got to see advanced technology for detecting neurotransmitters. The balance between acetylcholine and dopamine is delicate. I will write about that with perspective at a later date.

I was touched when Professor Thapa suggested that his daughter would show me around Kathmandu. I asked if I could write about him and Nepal here, and I will! My friend told me that Buddha was born in Nepal, which I will also relate to. During these years, I have tried to understand religion, and this trip may shed even more light on the subject.

When I wrote my thesis in Gothenburg, I wished to summarize the concept of addiction in just one sentence. It became `the triumph of desire over sensibility´. In molecular biology terms, it is the serotonergic neurons that lose control over dopamine-containing neurons. I will also look for the plant that carries reserpine in India or, hopefully, Nepal. It cannot be a coincidence that there is a plant that can so powerfully block the reuptake of monoamines in the synaptic cleft.

Finally, I would like to link to today’s international militant forces. I really hope that military leaders don’t get too – what word should I use – high from power.

Stay safe 🐾