Focus on air pollution

Elusive knowledge about the smallest particles
Toxicologist Hanna Karlsson investigates the health effects of the tiniest particles in the air. Those found in Barcelona’s harbour appear to be more inflammatory than others.

Bus, bike or walk – which is the dirtiest mode of transport
Anne-Sophie Merritt, a researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, has investigated how much air pollution people are exposed to depending on their mode of transport.

Suganthi Jaganathan: "In Delhi, it is often hard to breathe"
Suganthi Jaganathan researches air pollution in India. Among other findings, she has shown that poor air quality caused 16.6 million deaths in India over a ten-year period.

Liselott Florén: "Traffic makes my asthma worse"
People with asthma are particularly sensitive to air pollution, which can exacerbate their symptoms. Here, Liselott Florén explains how air quality affects her daily life.
Grants, prizes and donations

2025 Anders Jahre Award goes to two KI researchers
The prestigious Nordic Anders Jahre Award for 2025 goes this year to two researchers at Karolinska Institutet. Professor Sten Eirik Wælgaard Jacobsen is to receive the Anders Jahre Award for Medical Research for his work on normal and leukemic blood stem cells. William Nyberg is honoured with the Anders Jahre Award for Young Researchers for his work on the development of T-cell immunotherapy for cancer.

KI establishes new endowment professorship in integrative odontology
Thanks to a generous donation from businesswoman and investment company director Louise Lindh, the Department of Dental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet is able to establish a new professorial chair. This marks an important step towards making dental health a self-evident and integral part of public health, a move that both researchers and healthcare professionals have long been calling for.

Novo Nordisk Foundation grant for KI researcher in type 2 diabetes
Amir Ata Saei, assistant professor at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology has been awarded the Novo Nordisk Foundation Excellence Emerging Investigator Grant within Endocrinology and Metabolism 2025.

Grants from the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund to seven KI researchers
The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund has decided to grant funding for paediatric oncology research for the next one to six years. Diagnoses in focus include brain tumours and leukaemia. Seven researchers at KI will receive funding.
The Conversation

The dangerous myth about white snus
What do British footballers have in common with young women in Sweden? The answer is white snus. KI researchers explain why tobacco-free is not the same as risk-free in The Conversation.

Why the eyes are the mirror of breathing
New research has discovered a fundamental mechanism that affects pupil size - our breathing. The pupil is smallest when we breathe in and largest when we breathe out - something that could affect vision. In The Conversation, the researchers explain the implications of this.

How fluoride may be linked to poorer cognition in children

More articles from KI researchers published in The Conversation
From cold-resistant genes to face masks, Karolinska Institutet researchers contribute to the global public discourse on a range of topics through our collaboration with the international news site The Conversation.
Selected top publications
How our cells untie "DNA knots" to protect our genetic material
Elsässer et al, Science, June 2025
Six steps to implement digital health tools in healthcare
Löf & Maddison, Nature Medicine, May 2025
How cells adapt to stress and poor nutrition
Pelechano et al, Molecular Cell, May 2025
New research shows how tetracycline antibiotics impair T cell function
Rorbach et al, Nature Communications, May 2025
Study maps the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease
Ludvigsson et al, Nature, April 2025
More effective cooling methods after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
Awad et al, Intensive Care Medicine, April 2025
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