News archive

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) is investing SEK 120 million in the development of instruments, technology and methods that will enable scientific breakthroughs. Four researchers at Karolinska Institutet have received a total of almost SEK 35 million for projects that improve diagnostics, develop new therapies and provide researchers with advanced analytical tools.

From now until 7 December, you have the chance to help shape the future of academic governance at Karolinska Institutet. As a member of staff or a student, you can nominate candidates for the positions of dean and deputy dean (corresponding to the current academic vice presidents) for our three committees for Higher Education, Doctoral Education and Research.

Professor Anna Karlsson, prominent virus and cancer researcher and member of the Nobel Assembly, passed away peacefully on 16 November 2025 in Stockholm at the age of 67.

Philip Lindner is a Clinicum advisor and Associate Professor in clinical psychology. He's also Head of the Digital Psychiatry Lab at the Centre for Psychiatry Research, and is working as a clinical psychologist at the Stockholm Centre for Dependency Disorders (Region Stockholm), where he’s the Head of Research and Development at the Maria Ungdom Clinic.

Starting January 1, 2026, the rents in KI Residence Flemingsberg and KI Residence Solna will be adjusted by 1–4 percent due to increased rental costs from the property owners.

Are you a student planning to go on exchange during the spring semester of 2026? We are now looking for students who want to blog about their exchange experience on the Study Abroad Blog.

Sara Mijwel Cardinale and Maria Hagströmer are the recipients of the grants.

Last Friday, KI celebrated one of the highpoints of the year as it awarded degrees to 19 jubilee doctors and 147 new doctoral graduates. The evening of 14 November in the Stockholm City Hall turned into a moving tribute to research advances from different perspectives – one such being gender equality: 50 years ago, barely 3 per cent of the new doctors were women; this evening it was 58 per cent.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new method for studying the body's insulin-producing cells in mice. By placing small parts of the pancreas in an unexpected place in the body, the researchers can follow the work of the cells in detail. The study, which has been published in Nature Communications, may eventually contribute to better treatments for diabetes.

The Bergendorff scholarship was founded in 2022 in honor of Anders Bergendorff, the former program director of the master programme in Toxicology at IMM.

The academic election process for 2026 has now begun. If you work or study at KI, you will be able to nominate candidates for the positions of dean and deputy dean (corresponding to the current academic vice president) between 17 November and 7 December. In nominating someone in whom you believe and trust, you help to strengthen KI and give a colleague an opportunity to drive the development of education and research at KI.

KI is strengthening the conditions for groundbreaking research and innovation by gathering and developing the research infrastructure in "Research Infrastructure KI" (RIKI). The aim is to create even better support for researchers, facilitate collaboration and ensure that KI meets future demands for development, security and competence.

The University Board (Konsistoriet) has established a new structure for the Karolinska Institutet Faculty Board and committees, marking an important step towards strengthening the university’s collegial leadership and increasing academic participation in decision-making processes.

Welcome to Libe Vilela's presentation of her thesis ”Cleaning, disinfection, and hygiene practices : occupational exposures and health hazards”.

Registration is now open for the 3rd Nordic Obesity Meeting, NOM2026, held at Läkaresällskapet in Stockholm on February 5-6 2026 and also available to follow online!

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Nature Neuroscience, explores how oligodendrocytes, the cells that produce myelin in the brain and spinal cord, respond during the development of multiple sclerosis. By following these cells in a mouse model, the researchers identified distinct disease-related states and gene activity patterns that may help explain how MS progresses at the molecular and cellular level.

Astradeni Efthymiadou from the Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit (GUT), at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) defends her thesis titled "Understanding corepressor complex function in the epigenetic regulation of macrophage gene expression", on 21 November, 2025. Main supervisor is Eckardt Treuter (MedH).

People today live longer than ever before. They also reach old age with more peers still alive and smaller families. Still, individuals over 80, who make up the fastest-growing age group in the population, are often not included in studies. This thesis examines how social life has changed over time in old age and how social connections are related to wellbeing.

Anna Thor, researcher at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), has been awarded a research grant from the Swedish Association for Urological Oncology for her research on the treatment of patients with metastatic testicular cancer.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have discovered how mammalian cells prevent the gradual buildup of harmful mutations in mitochondrial DNA, the small but vital genome that powers every cell. The study, published in Science Advances, explains how mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) maintains its integrity despite its uniparental mode of inheritance and rapid mutation rate.

Karolinska Institutet has joined ten other European universities in signing a joint declaration on gender equality, signalling how critical the issue is to scientific quality and academic freedom.

In the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation's latest call, research grants of SEK 20.3 million were awarded to ten researchers at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery. We congratulate:

Tuberculosis remains a global health issue affecting more than 10 million people every year. On October 20, leading international tuberculosis researchers gathered at the Nobel Forum to discuss how to reduce the remaining gaps in prevention, care, and research.

Professor Andrea Varrone at Karolinska Institutet has been awarded over USD 1.4 million from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. The grant will be used to lead a study that can advance Parkinson’s research by evaluating a new tracer designed to reveal what happens in the brain as the disease develops.

On 3 November, the Government of Japan announced that Birgitta Henriques Normark, professor at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the “Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star”. The award honors her contributions to promoting academic exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and Sweden. The Order of the Rising Sun was Japan's first award, established in 1875.

Depression in young adulthood has a stronger hereditary component and is associated with a higher risk of suicide attempts than depression that begins later in life, according to a new study published in Nature Genetics by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among others.

The Center for Resuscitation Science was well represented at this year’s European Resuscitation Council (ERC) annual congress, held in Rotterdam, October 2025.

Welcome to read our LIME Newsletter - either via link below or if you want to read older ones you can find them in All about LIME / Kommunikation.

KI Master’s, PhD, and early-career researchers are invited to apply for the Winter School on Brain Architecture for NeuroAI and Neurotechnology: A Systems Neuroscience Perspective, taking place at the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche.

The Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) has announced its research grants for 2025. Around 73 million has been awarded to researchers at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet.

On November 11, the MMK Research Grand Prix was held for the first time. Seven doctoral students at the department presented their doctoral projects in the most captivating, inspiring and educational way possible - in five minutes!

Leaders and experts from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital met in Stockholm on 7 November to discuss cooperation in the fields of prevention, AI and advanced therapies. The parties have been in formal collaboration since 2023.

The BonnBrain Conference 2026 will take place in Bonn, Germany, from March 23–25, 2026 bringing together leading neuroscientists from across Europe and beyond to discuss the latest advances in brain research.

On Friday, 14 November, this autumn’s doctoral degree conferment ceremony took place in the Blue Hall at Stockholm City Hall, where newly conferred doctors and jubilee doctors was celebrated. Medical students Nora Khatibi and Gottfrid Rehnman are two of the evening’s marshals. Here, they share insights into their roles – and how they prepare for the event.

A puzzling experiment in the 1970s led to the discovery of a new type of immune cell. In 2025, the NK cells celebrate their 50th anniversary. Rolf Kiessling tells the story of the serendipitous finding that changed the course of his career.

Depression is one of the most common mental health conditions, and some people recover with medications or therapies. However, for some individuals, treatment does not work, even after several attempts. This harder-to-treat form of depression is known as treatment-resistant depression (TRD). People affected by TRD often experience more severe and long-lasting symptoms, lower quality of life, and more physical health problems than other depression cases without TRD.

KI president Annika Östman Wernerson honoured professor emeritus Hugo Lagercrantz with this years KI Cultural Award at a ceremony on November 6th. With this award KI celebrates individuals at KI whose efforts have brought culture and science together in meaningful ways - both within our university and in our engagement with society

Twelve researchers at the Department of Global Public Health have been awarded grants from Forte. In total, the Department has been awarded over 60 million SEK.

Congratulations to the 5 researchers at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery who have been awarded research grants from the Swedish Cancer Society in the latest call on November 10, 2025.

A treatment that could protect premature babies from brain damage showed promise in a recent study in Sweden. Using a first-of-its-kind prenatal brain model created with human cells researchers observed new details about the effects of cerebral hemorrhages on stem cells during premature birth. And they successfully tested an antidote that reduced the damage.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University reveals that sons born to mothers with type 1 diabetes may develop early vascular dysfunction – independently of metabolic health. The finding may help shape future strategies to prevent cardiovascular disease early in life.

This year's decision from the Swedish Cancer Society's Research Board means that just over SEK 1 billion will go to new cancer research. It is the largest investment in the history of the Swedish Cancer Society. KI is granted SEK 447.8 million to 104 research projects and 3 planning groups. This year, a special investment is also being made in the area of early detection of cancer.

The Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) has announced its research grants for 2025. Over SEK 90 million has been awarded to researchers at the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet.

In Cancerfonden's latest call, SEK 19,5 million was awarded to 6 researchers at the Department of Laboratory Medicine for the years 2026-2028.

A specific pattern of proteins in the blood may reflect an increased risk of hereditary atherosclerosis. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet, examining close relatives of people who had suffered a heart attack at a young age. The study has been published in the journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.

Professor Ola Hermanson, who served as a distinguished member of the neuroscience community at Karolinska Institutet, passed away on 2 October 2025 at the age of 60. His career was marked by scientific excellence, visionary leadership, and a deep commitment to the advancement of neuroscience both in Sweden and internationally.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has awarded a total of approximately SEK 42 million in research funding to seven researchers at the Department of Oncology-Pathology. The grants span a period of three to six years.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have a new publication in Nature Genetics about their surprising finding.

Dr. André Görgens at the Department of Laboratory Medicine receives a grant from Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) for his project to develop a new, advanced technology for sorting nanoparticles.

In the Swedish Cancer Society’s latest call, research grants totalling SEK 34 300 000 were awarded to 11 researchers at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) for the years 2026–2028.