Ingrid Ekström awarded project grant from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
Ingrid Ekström, postdoctoral researcher at the Aging Research Center (ARC) at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, has received project support for research in the humanities and social sciences from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.
Ingrid Ekström is awarded SEK 2 850 000 for her project entitled "HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES OF SMELL LOSS IN OLD AGE: a longitudinal population-based study" for the period 2023-2026.
Tell us a little more about your project
We know today that aging is often accompanied by significant loss in the sense of smell, olfaction. Around 25% of persons aged 60 years and above suffer from olfactory impairment (OI), and prevalence rates increase substantially with age. Still, potentially harmful consequences of smell loss are poorly understood.
What will you focus on?
Amongst others, we will focus on investigating the longitudinal association between smell loss and conditions such as depression, loneliness, and malnutrition.
Who else is taking part in the study?
In this project, I will collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the Aging Research Center (ARC) and from Umeå university. To merge data from two Swedish population-based studies on aging, we will make use of NEAR, the National E-infrastructure for Aging Research.