Research on alcohol and older people receives award

Peter Allebeck, professor, Karolinska Institutet, Wossenseged Birhane Jemberie, associate professor and prize winner, and Runa Neely, Head of Analysis and Insights, Systembolaget.

28.05.2026 - Systembolaget’s junior prize 2026 is awarded to Wossenseged Birhane Jemberie for his research on alcohol and health among older people. The field remains relatively under-researched, despite the fact that alcohol consumption among older people today is higher than among previous generations. This year’s prize winner was presented at Systembolaget’s annual alcohol research conference.

“For the tenth year in a row, we want Systembolaget’s junior prize to highlight research that increases knowledge about the consequences of alcohol. Wossenseged Birhane Jemberie receives the prize for his important contributions to the field of alcohol and health among older people,” says Ann Carlsson Meyer, CEO of Systembolaget.

Wossenseged Birhane Jemberie holds a PhD in social work and defended his doctoral thesis at Umeå University in 2023, with a dissertation on alcohol and ageing. In his work, he has studied older people in addiction care, their experiences, and the risk of repeated hospital admissions and mortality.

His studies show that older people with alcohol problems are not a uniform group, but differ in terms of illness trajectories, life situations, circumstances, and treatment goals. Against this background, care and support interventions need to be adapted to the individual.

Since completing his doctoral degree, Wossenseged Birhane Jemberie has been based at the Department of Social Work at Umeå University, where he has continued to study alcohol use among older people, including through a population study of drinking patterns among 65 to 90-year-olds in Sweden and Finland.

The prize was awarded in connection with Systembolaget’s alcohol research conference on May 21, 2026, which each year brings together researchers and other stakeholders for discussions on alcohol’s impact on society and people. By funding research and disseminating its results, Systembolaget contributes to strengthening knowledge about the consequences of alcohol. The winner receives SEK 50,000 and is selected by an independent external committee.

Prize committee:

Peter Allebeck, professor, Karolinska Institutet

David Karlsson, professor, University of Gothenburg

Kent Nilsson, professor, Uppsala University

Jenny Cisneros Örnberg, associate professor, Stockholm University