Prof. Johan Moan is celebrated his 60th anniversary on April 27. On this occasion his research group had dedicated the last issue of "Photobiophysics Newsletter" to mention the highlights of his biography.
Johan was born in 1944 in a farmers family in a small Norwegian countryside called Åfjord, which is around 80 km north of Trondheim. Being a farmers son left a huge impact: Conquering the scientific heights in an urban city like Oslo, he did not forget what the hard life in the countryside has taught him.
It is worthwhile to mention that he is a good carpenter as well, and has built a cottage in the mountains almost from the ground. In addition, 60 km of skiing per day is worth of being mentioned at his age!
Johan Moan,
December 2003In 1970 he graduated from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim) with the best possible marks and was presented to His Majesty the King of Norway. His scientific carrier started when he got a scholarship from the Norwegian Research Council (Norges Forskningsråd, NFR) to work on his doctoral thesis. He successfully defended the Ph.D. thesis X-rays and UV-irradiation of frozen polar solutions of L-tryptophan in 1975.
Since 1974 and until now his office is located at the Department of Biophysics at the Institute for Cancer Research of the Norwegian Radium Hospital (DetNorske Radiumhospital, DNR). In 1970s he got interested in Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) of cancer as one of the first in the world, and since then he has established a PDT group.
Johan has got an outstanding international recognition and is ranked among the best scientists in Norway and worldwide in the field of physics and photobiophysics. Because of his major achievements in fields with the prefix photo-, he is sometimes referred to as the Professor of Light (Lysprofessoren).
Recently, in August 2003, he was awarded the Norwegian Birkelands prize for advanced research in the field of physics (Norsk Hydros Birkelandspris), which is the most prestigious one for physicists in Norway. Before that he got a prize for his suncream project for its high commercial potential in Venture Cup Oslo 2001. In 1999 he was honoured with a prize of the European Society for Photobiology (ESP) for his huge input into science of photobiology. In 1998 Johan received the national Bergesens prize (Bergesenprisen), sponsored by the shipping company owner Sigval Bergesen. Earlier, an innovation prize of The Research Foundation of the Radium Hospital (Radiumhospitalets Forskningsstiftelse) in 1996 and two prizes in the project competition organized by the Research Park (Forskningsparken) of the University of Oslo in 1994 and 1995 were achieved.
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