News archive

KI, Uppsala University, Sophiahemmet University and Mälardalen University have been granted funding to set up a new research school: the Mälardalen Region’s Research School in Healthcare Science”.

Prostate cancer constitutes an essential public health issue, as it is a major cause of male deaths. Early detection through an organised testing program with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and systematic biopsy is not in place in most countries due to the risk of over-diagnosis and over-treatment of low-risk cancers. Now there are two proposed approaches to tackle this problem; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the serum-based reflex test “Stockholm3”.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer type in women globally, but there is a continuous decline in mortality rates. A partial explanation for this may be that effective treatments are being developed for subgroups of breast cancer patients. It is still challenging to optimise treatment plans for every individual.

If you began or will begin your doctoral education at any Swedish university between approximately January 2022 and April 2023 you are eligible to apply.

The world's biggest community for tropical medicine and global health, the American Society for Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH), had its annual meeting between the 30th of October and November 3rd in Seattle, USA. Global Child Health and SDG research team members Mattias Schedwin and Kevin Baker that participated and were selected to present their research, share their experiences and thoughts from the conference.

Hi there, Jie Guo, PhD student at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "Unraveling the relationship between body mass index and cardiometabolic disease, dementia, and survival in old age" on 10 November 2022. What is the main focus?

Hi Martina Bendt, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy. On November 18 you will defend your thesis "Adults living with spina bifida – From health and living conditions to motor-cognitive performance", what's the main focus of the thesis?

Hepatitis A is an acute liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV) and transmitted via the faecal-oral route through person-to-person transmission, contaminated food or water. While hepatitis A infection is mostly asymptomatic in children, the frequency and severity of symptoms increases with age, with the elderly and patients with other liver disease at risk of hospitalisation, acute liver failure and death.

This newsletter is primarily addressed to doctoral students. The purpose is to inform about news and practical details regarding doctoral education at KI.

Hi Linda Eriksson, PhD student at the Division of Nursing, NVS. On June 3 you will defend your thesis "Let's work it out : aspects of the occupational situation of survivors of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation", what's the main focus of the thesis?

Hi there, Mahwish Naseer, PhD student at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "Why do older adults seek emergency care? The impact of contextual factors, care, health, and social relations" on 14 October 2022. What is the main focus?

The course aims to give doctoral students an opportunity to reflect on the importance of academic research and how this can lead to societal change. Starting from, and building on, the doctoral students existing knowledge, experience and research, the course will lay the foundation for an understanding of factors influencing the societal impact of academic research, improved interdisciplinary collaborations and enhanced communication skills among researchers and with society at large.

Hi there, Marguerita Saadeh, PhD student at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "Enjoying life and living healthier: impact of behavioral and psychosocial factors on physical function in old age" on 22 September 2022. Tell us, what is the main focus of your thesis?

This newsletter is primarily addressed to doctoral students. The purpose is to inform about news and practical details regarding doctoral education at KI.

Hi Therese Johansson, PhD-student at the Division of Nursing. On September 9 you will defend your thesis ”A 'new public health' perspective on building competence for end-of-life care and communication : how death literacy can be developed and measured”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Esophageal cancer is the seventh most common cancer world-wide and a lethal malignancy causing a considerably high number of deaths. There is currently no promising method for prevention, early detection, or screening of esophageal cancer so most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, which is associated with a poor prognosis.

In a new thesis from the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Chen Wang used nationwide Swedish register data to assess the long-term health of children conceived with assisted reproductive techniques (ART) and attempted to develop prediction models of pregnancy complications among women undergoing ART.

Annachiara Malin Igra researches the health effects of early-life metal exposure in children in Bangladesh. Her research provides important evidence that growth, bone health and pubertal development of children can be negatively affected by cadmium from food at exposure levels relevant for millions of children around the world. Now she wants to see a new risk assessment for metal exposure where child health is included.

In precision medicine, predicting the risk of an event during a specific period may help, for example, to identify patients that need early preventive treatment. Modern machine learning (ML) techniques are therefore ideal for building these predictions.

In March 2022, André Thunberg had his ISP seminar at the Department of Global Public Health. His research focuses on the prevalence and management of severe paediatric illness in Malawi. Besides his doctoral studies, André also works at Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital as a resident doctor.

End-stage liver disease (ESLD), including advanced liver cirrhosis and primary liver cancer, is the final stage of long-standing injury to the liver due to risk factors such as chronic viral hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease. There is a high disease burden and mortality globally, especially in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries such as Ghana, where the primary cause of HCC and cirrhosis is infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV).

The number of places in KI and Region Stockholm's clinical research schools has been increased by 27 % from 2022.

The call covers up to 17 grants for partial financing of doctoral education at KI that shall be used to pay for doctoral student’s salaries.

Friday May 20, doctoral student Daniel Helldén had his halftime seminar at the Department of Global Public Health. Using a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Synergies Approach and interviews with stakeholders, Daniel aims to investigate the views and perceptions on the linkages between SDGs, different sectors and child health in Cambodia. Through machine learning, he also investigates non-health risk factors of morbidity from infectious diseases.

Microscopic colitis is the most recently recognized inflammatory condition of the large intestine in which abnormal reactions of the immune system cause inflammation of the inner lining of the colon. At present, more than 10,000 people in Sweden are estimated to be living with the disease. Previously, insufficient awareness and knowledge of microscopic colitis have led to underdiagnosis of the disorder, leaving patients untreated.

Hi Pernilla Sönnerfors, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS. On June 17 you will defend your thesis ”eHealth support for physical activity and exercise training in people with COPD”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Hi Richeng Jiang, PhD student at the Division of Neurogeriatrics, NVS. On May 30 you will defend your thesis ”Interplay between autophagy and amyloid beta metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Hi Andrea Porserud, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS. On June 3 you will defend your thesis ”Taking physical rehabilitation after abdominal cancer surgery further – by enhanced recovery and physical activity”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Hi Minh Tuan Hoang, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS. On May 25 you will defend your thesis ”Health Inequalities in care for persons with dementia”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Doctoral students can now receive a residence permit for doctoral studies for up to four years directly, instead of two years as before.

In a new thesis, Rickard Strandberg, PhD student at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, lays the foundations for a new natural history model for breast cancer. By taking advantage of available detailed screening cohorts, Rickard’s work includes three diverse applications of this model.

This newsletter is primarily addressed to doctoral students. The purpose is to inform about news and practical details regarding doctoral education at KI.

Are you a doctoral student and want help finding a mentor, or are you interested in becoming a mentor to a doctoral student?

Since 2008, doctoral students at KI are invited, soon after their thesis defence, to complete an anonymous survey, the Exit Poll. The about 80 % response rate is high, making it an important and useful tool for identifying areas for further development of KI’s doctoral education.

The deadline for applying to the research school in family medicine and primary care is prolonged until 18th of March.

The Employment Protection Act (“lagen om anställningsskydd”, LAS) is expected to change, which will affect the possibility of employing doctoral students using the employment status ‘doctoral student-L’.

Welcome to NorDoc's annual PhD conference which this year focuses on sustainability in health. A digital research school for doctoral students is being arranged in connection with the conference.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive and complex disorder that affects multiple parts of the brain but also other organ systems. Symptoms start gradually, sometimes with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremor is common, and the disorder also commonly causes stiffness and slowing of movements. More than 10 million people worldwide are living with PD and the incidence increases dramatically with age.

Hi Irene Brusini, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS. On March 25 you will defend your thesis ”Methods for the analysis and characterization of brain morphology from MRI images”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

The Department of Global Public Health (GPH) has got two new doctoral student representatives; Soha el Halabi and Katrine de Angeles. They represent the students in meetings and committees at the department and work to help and support new and existing doctoral students.

On the 3rd of March, doctoral student Vanda had her half-time seminar online via Zoom and in Widerströmska huset. Vanda is a Mozambican healthcare practitioner specialising as a pediatric surgeon in Spain and is now using her experiences from clinical work into research in her thesis titled:
‘Acute pediatric injury in a low-resource African setting during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insight on injury epidemiology and care from the largest hospitals of Mozambique’

Depression is a common and serious mental health condition. It causes a wide variety of symptoms, such as feeling hopeless and sad, and losing interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities. To be diagnosed with depression, symptoms must last for at least two consecutive weeks. At its worst, this mental condition can lead to suicide. It is a worldwide psychiatric illness with a wide range of ages of onset, and it occurs about twice as often in women than men.

It is estimated that more than 10% of the world’s population live with a psychiatric disorder, with significant impacts on health as well as major social, human rights and economic consequences in all countries of the world.

This newsletter is primarily addressed to doctoral students. The purpose is to inform about news and practical details regarding doctoral education at KI.

Places are advertised within the clinical research schools in family medicine and primary care, epidemiology, clinical therapy research and molecular medicine.

A research residency (forskar-ST) provides financial support for a period of research during a clinical residency, and can be applied for by doctoral students at KI on a residency programme within Region Stockholm.

Hi Malin Freidle, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS. On February 11 you will defend your thesis ”Motor and cognitive abilities in Parkinson’s disease with a brain activity perspective: performance at baseline and the effects of a balance training program”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Welcome to Natalia Stathakarous's half-time seminar on Wednesday, 26 January 2022.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with its two main disease entities Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, is a chronic and relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The highest prevalence of IBD is found in the Western world, and the lowest in developing countries.

Hi Emilia Schwertner, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS. On January 21 you will defend your thesis ”Factors associated with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia”, what's the main focus of the thesis?