2 Americans, 1 Swede share Crafoord science prize

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two Americans and a Swede have won this year's Crafoord Prize, a 4 million kronor ($600,000) scientific award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to honor achievements not always covered by its more famous Nobel Prizes.

Peter Gregersen of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research near New York, Robert Winchester of Columbia University and Lars Klareskog of Stockholm's Karolinska institute were cited for discoveries related to rheumatoid arthritis.

The academy said Thursday that the three scientists, who will share the award, "contributed to a basic understanding of how the most common and serious form of rheumatoid arthritis develops."

Named after Holger Crafoord, the Swede who designed the first artificial kidney, the award has been given annually since 1982.

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