Texas A&M Researcher Receives Prestigious Award From Finnish Academic Society

Dr. Leif Andersson, a professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (VMBS) Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, has been awarded the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters’ Grand Prize for his outstanding contribution to genome biology of domestic animals and natural animal populations.

At the society’s annual celebration, Andersson, who holds a joint appointment at Uppsala University in Sweden, was awarded the 2025 Professor E. J. Nyström prize of € 50,000, which recognizes researchers who have made outstanding scientific achievements.

“I am very grateful that I — together with my coworkers — have made so many exciting discoveries over the years that are now recognized with this prize,” Andersson said.

Andersson’s research has led to numerous discoveries that improve scientists’ understanding of domestic animals, including horses and rabbits, as well as sustainable fishing practices for marine fish. Recently, he led a team that uncovered the gene variants that determine the speed of graying in horses and discovered how domestic rabbits become feral in the wild.

He has also conducted multiple studies on Darwin’s finches, finding that only six positions on the finch chromosome are responsible for much of the birds’ famous variation in beak sizes.

The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, founded in 1838, is the oldest learned society in Finland.