[1] At the University of Gothenburg (Göteborgs universitet in Swedish), Holmgren graduated in 1965 with a bachelor of medicine degree, in 1969 with a Ph.D., and in 1973 with an M.D.
In 1980 he was appointed to the University of Gothenburg's professorial chair in medical microbiology and immunology as successor to Örjan Ouchterlony upon the latter's retirement.
[3] In addition to his professorship, Holmgren was appointed founding director of the Göteborg University Vaccine Research Institute (GUVAX), which was created in 2002.
[1]His research contributed to the development of a vaccine together with Ann-Mari Svennerholm against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC).
[7] He received in 2017 the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal[1][8] and in 2018 the Prince Mahidol Award in Public Health.