News archive

Karolinska Institutet (KI) celebrates the 25th anniversary of its International Staff Services, which has supported international researchers, doctoral students and their hosting departments since 1999. Held at Campus Solna’s A Working Lab, the event on Tuesday highlighted the importance of collaboration to support KI’s success as a global research hub.

As global populations age and the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disorders rises, understanding the complex relationships between body mass index (BMI), metabolic health, and aging becomes increasingly critical.

Congratulations to the 7 researchers at Department of Laboratory Medicine (Labmed) who received grants from Cancerfonden 2025-2029.

On November 7, 2024, the Swedish Cancer Society's Research Committee awarded Rachael a project grant of 3 million SEK over a 3-year period for her research entitled - “Oral Complications Post- Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation to Model the Transition of Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders to Invasive Oral Cancer.”

Tips from Grants Office regarding current calls

The first storm of the autumn lashed Stockholm City Hall, harassing the flames of the outdoor candles and braziers, as the guests arrived to witness 133 doctors and a record 35 jubilee doctors receive their accolades at the KI conferment ceremony. It was an evening of celebration and joy, an evening of fresh opportunities and memories of a long career. It was, in short, a magical evening for the 900 or so guests assembled in the Blue Hall.

Congratulations to our seven researchers at the Division of Neuro, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, who have been granted over 31 million SEK in project grants from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) in their call Medicine and Health, as well as International Collaborations in Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND), 2024.

On 5 November, a special annual ceremony was held in Aula Medica. Thirteen international master’s students from eleven different countries were honoured with Karolinska Institutet’s Global Master's Scholarship.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has decided on grant applications within Medicine and Health 2024. Researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics were granted over 50 Mkr together.

The Swedish Cancer Society has decided on the research grants for 2024. Researchers from the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet received a total of over 70 million SEK.

The Committee for Research has decided to award grants to 15 networks within the call for funds for interdisciplinary research networks. The aim of the initiative is to strengthen scientific quality and promote collaborations across institutional boundaries.

The Karolinska Institutet and Mayo Clinic are pleased to announce the availability of limited competitive funds for short-term travel by faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, students and/or trainees between the partner institutions to plan or conduct collaborative interactions.

Tahmina Akhter from the Biosciences and Nutrition Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, is defending her thesis titled "Classification of asthma with cross-cohort clinical data and with enhancer mediated gene regulation", on 15 November, 2024. Main supervisor is Carsten Daub (MedH).

Clinics and hospitals currently defer medication abortion until ultrasound confirms a pregnancy inside the uterus. However, a large international study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet now indicates that treatment can be equally effective and safe even before the sixth week of pregnancy. The study is published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Professor of developmental biology and former member of the Nobel Assembly Björn Vennström has passed away at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife Kristina, his children Karin and Anders and grandchildren.

Researchers from the Department of Women's and Children's Health received more than SEK 35 million when the Swedish Research Council decided on calls within Medicine and health in 2024.

Viktoria Hansson works at KI as a coordinator for students with disabilities . She is responsible for specialised study adaptations for KI students, known as pedagogical accommodations. We asked her a few common questions about this support.

Javier Leal Martin is postdoctoral researcher who joined ARC on 1 November 2024. He will be working in Davide Liborio Veterano's research group.

It´s time again for a new round of our joint exercise activity Pep at Work.

Researchers, doctoral students and students gathered in Solna on 16–17 October to mark 30 years of fruitful collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Mayo Clinic at their annual joint conference. The extremely popular and much-appreciated research conference with 600 participants, including 100 from the Mayo Clinic, centred this year on AI and health data, a rapidly growing area that impacts profoundly on the future of healthcare.

Congratulations to the five researchers at GPH who have been awarded project grants from Forte and the Swedish Research Council in their 2024 call for Medicine and Health.

As part of the response to the escalating threat of a global dengue fever epidemic, a new interdisciplinary EU-funded research initiative has been established with KI as coordinator. The COMBAT project aims to develop solutions to manage and mitigate the dengue virus, which causes 100 million infections and 10,000 deaths annually in 141 countries. In addition to the human suffering, the virus causes an economic burden of over EUR 8 billion globally.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has decided on grant applications within Medicine and Health 2024. Researchers at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology were granted over 36 Mkr together.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the foundation Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. In this year's major round of research funding, the foundation's board of directors has decided to fund a total of 77 projects in the humanities and social sciences for a total of just over SEK 370 million. Five of these projects are run by researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Congratulations to Ida Nilsson and Richard Rosenquist Brandell who have been granted project grant from the Swedish Research Council in their call Medicine and Health 2024 and to Alexander Fyrdahl who has been granted establishment grant from the Swedish Research Council in their call Natural and Engineering Sciences 2024.

University of Bergen in collaboration with researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded a significant grant funded by Horizon Europe with €7 million during 2024-2028 in recognition of their dedication to target Epstein-Barr virus to treat and prevent Multiple Sclerosis.

Congratulations to Linn Öijerstedt for receiving financial support by BioArctic for her postdoctoral fellowship in the pursue of finding a marker of TDP-43 pathology. In addition, Linn has received grants from Björklunds foundation and Demensfonden for her projects on cognitive and behavioural impairment in ALS.

Juliette Foucher's paper validating the Edingburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS) in Swedish.

Using a new technique, long-read sequencing, that allows DNA to be analyzed in much greater detail than before, a team of Swedish clinicians and researchers has discovered an unexpected complexity in chromosomal abnormalities. The study opens the door to more precise and effective treatment of patients with rare diseases that currently lack clear diagnoses.

Supervisors Michael Ratz and Kristiina Tammimies share how their students’ participation in NeurotechEU brought back tangible benefits and some exciting new possibilities.

Congratulations to the six researchers at NVS who have been awarded project grants from the Swedish Research Council in their 2024 call for Medicine and Health.

On October 30, 2024, Ronaldo was awarded a Starting Grant within Medicine and Health of 6 million SEK over a 4-year period for his research “Host-microbial interactions in oral mucosal immunopathology”.

A new collaborative study from Karolinska Institutet published in Science Advances shows that the levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) directly influence lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression in mice. LUAD is a common subgroup of human lung cancer that typically contains high levels of mtDNA. The link between high mtDNA levels and tumor progression suggests that mtDNA may provide a new therapeutic target and a biomarker for stratifying patients.

Some changes will soon take place for some of our centrally managed software licences. Some software will be replaced with new versions, some prices will be adjusted upwards to meet increased costs from manufacturers, and others will be adjusted downwards as we have managed to negotiate better prices.

In the Swedish Research Council's latest call, SEK 96 000 000 was awarded to 13 researchers at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) for the years 2024-2029.

The Collaborative Research Projects will support new multidisciplinary collaborations for ambitious yet feasible research projects in all areas of Neuroscience. The aim is to promote multidisciplinary research though new and innovative collaborations of outstanding scientific quality.

Karolinska Institutet has produced a new environmental policy to tackle present and future environmental and sustainability challenges. The environmental policy describes the intentions and directions of KI’s work with environmental sustainability. In integrating the environmental perspective throughout the organisation, KI will make an active health-focused contribution to addressing society’s key environmental and climate challenges.

Researcher, screenwriter and composer Sissela Nutley is awarded KI's Culture Prize for her work in uniting culture and science to convey messages about the brain and mental health, including through the school program “Det syns inte” (It is not visible) which is used in classrooms around Sweden. The prize was awarded during KI Culture Day on 30 October.

The National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention announces the first Swedish Suicide Research Conference (SSRC), set to unite experts in suicide research from across Sweden and abroad. This event, partly supported by a Forte grant, will take place in Stockholm in May 6–7, 2025.

In a recently published study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KI University Hospital show that radiotherapy (RT) creates an "epigenetic memory" in skin fibroblasts which impairs skin healing in cancer survivors. They also found that by targeting this memory with antibodies the damage could be reversed. This finding can lead to new therapies for both preventing and treating RT-induced skin issues.

We at Dentmed and Unitand continue to reduce our negative environmental impact. The audit was conducted by Susanne Evergård from Intertek on October 22-24, 2024. It resulted in a continued certification, without deviations. This confirms that we are all making a difference!

Thuy Tran's research group at Karolinska Institutet has been awarded SEK 8 million over three years from the Erling-Persson Foundation to develop a precision-orientated, theranostic, method that integrates the diagnosis and treatment of advanced, solid tumours.

On 23 October, the Stockholm Trio University Alliance hosted a seminar at Karolinska Institutet on how interdisciplinary research and education can contribute to sustainable development. The seminar was organized by Stockholm Trio for Sustainable Actions, an initiative within the alliance that supports Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Stockholm University in their work to contribute to the UN's 17 global goals.

The Global Child Health and Sustainable Development Goals research group recently hosted a delegation of prominent guests from Shanghai, China, to exchange insights on health economics and childcare systems. Their visit aimed to deepen the understanding of the Swedish healthcare system, particularly in the context of children’s health.

Adrián Carballo Casla has recently been awarded a Forte Starting Grant 2024. His research project aims to tailor dietary recommendations to the unique needs of older adults, potentially leading to healthier and longer lives.

An abnormal BMI in children – be it high or low – can now be associated with impaired lung function, but if their BMI is normalised before they reach adulthood, the impairment can be offset, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report. Their results, which are based on data collected under the BAMSE project, are presented in The European Respiratory Journal.

In Clinicum's network there are advisers with many different backgrounds who contribute with their experience - all to enhance your research. We have talked to one of them, Stephen Nash, a statistician at MEB, and asked some questions about what to consider when submitting an application to Clinicum.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that heart failure mortality has decreased in Sweden over the last 20 years. The study has been published in the European Journal of Heart Failure.

On June 17, the training program ‘Future Academic Leaders’ (FAL) for NVS concluded, after running for 1,5 years. 36 participants completed the program, which included a mix of new and already established managers, as well as employees on their way to potentially become leaders in the future. There is a basic FAL program at KI, which NVS has tailored to suit our needs. The results of the evaluations indicate that the participants were very satisfied with the program. Here are some comments.

Northern Nigeria has one of the highest mortality rates for children globally – in Jigawa, 1 in 6 children still die before their 5th birthday. The INSPIRING trial aimed to reduce child mortality with a package of interventions focused on participatory approaches to capacity building and empowerment.