News archive

On Monday, 5 September, the external investigators presented the results of their inquiry into Karolinska Institutet’s handling of visiting professor Paolo Macchiarini. Their report criticises KI on several counts, including that Macchiarini’s recruitment in 2010 and the extension of his contract in 2013 were pushed through improperly. The report also found that KI cannot be completely absolved of responsibility for the synthetic trachea transplantations at Karolinska University Hospital.

A special variant of a sugar molecule in the human nose might explain why pneumococcal infections are more common in humans than in other animals, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in a study published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. The discovery can help in the search for a broader vaccine able to protect against all types of pneumococci.

Brian Hodges, Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada, is awarded the 2016 Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education. His research has led to changes in educational practice, both scientific and practical, in the training of health professionals around the world.

The sympathetic nerve system has long been thought to respond the same regardless of the physical or emotional stimulus triggering it. However, in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists show that the system comprises different neurons that regulate specific physiological functions, such as erectile muscle control.

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a new technique that enables them to isolate single neurons from tissues and analyse the gene expression within.

Benedict Chambers and Berit Carow left the world of elite sports to concentrate on their careers as immunologists at Karolinska Institutet. They are now returning to the limelight to help contestants in this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio avoid infection.

People with malignant melanoma with an inherited mutation in a certain gene are twice as likely to die of the disease, according to a new study carried out by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University in Sweden. The finding, which is published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that individuals with familial melanoma who have the mutation should be monitored particularly closely.

In the spring of 2016, KI researcher Tore Curstedt was nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award by the European Patent Office for having devoted his life to Curosurf, a drug that has helped to activate the lungs of millions of preterm babies.

Charlotte Rolny and colleagues at the Department of Oncology-Pathology have discovered a new mechanism that could be the key to a new strategy to restrict breast cancer growth.

Over 2,000 rapes committed against children were reported in 2015. Now, Christoffer Rahm, a specialist doctor in psychiatry and a researcher at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, is going to investigate whether medication can prevent a person with a sexual attraction to children from offending.