News archive

Two roads on the Solna campus were renamed in September. Retzius väg is now Blombäcks väg after Margareta Blombäck and Birger Blombäck. Von Eulers väg is now Liljestrands väg, in honour of Göran Liljestrand. The change of name is part of the general review of the names of roads, halls and monuments that began at KI a few years ago.

Women who suffer severe complications during their first pregnancy or delivery are less inclined to have more babies, a study published in JAMA by researchers at Karolinska Institutet reports. Given the recent steady decline in birth rate in Sweden, the researchers propose monitoring in antenatal care to address the problem.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been granted SEK 5.6 million from the Swedish Research Council for a research project to improve person-centered care, patient safety, teamwork and communication in maternity care.

A new thesis from Karolinska Institutet shows the effectiveness of flexible parametric survival models in modelling multiple time-scales, providing a robust tool for complex time-to-event data analysis. The models were tested in the context of myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of chronic hematologic malignancies in which the bone marrow makes too many red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets.

The agreement with the occupational health service Avonova is now finalised and valid from October 1, 2024, to October, 1 2028, with the possibility of two extensions of two years each. For questions about the agreement, please contact Ia G Wallgren at the central HR Office.

We look forward to a long-term collaboration with Avonova, where the health promotion work is in focus.

Apply for a fun and paid extra job as a blogger for the Study Abroad Blog, where you share your journey and experiences on the blog and Instagram.

More and more students are leaving school with incomplete grades or without qualifications for upper-secondary education. This trend needs to be broken, but how? One way could be through creativity, which was the topic of lectures and discussions at a recent conference in Aula Medica for researchers and decision-makers in the field of education and school development. Minister for Education Johan Pehrson spoke on the importance of teaching methods that reflect pedagogical research.

Karin Belander Strålin from the Hematology Unit/HERM, at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), is defending her thesis titled "Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate decisions during fetal development", on 29 November , 2024. Main supervisor is Sten Eirik W. Jacobsen (MedH).

Congratulations to Anna Lundh, who has been awarded the Matts Halldin Prize 2024. The prize is presented by the Opuscula Medica association at Södersjukhuset, which aims to promote research, development, education, and innovation.

Makerere University in Uganda and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have been collaborating for nearly 25 years. On November 11th 2024 they celebrated their successful partnership during an alumni event at Makerere University's College of Health Sciences in Kampala, Uganda. The event highlighted their achievements, including a joint doctoral program that has supported nearly 50 Makerere doctoral students, many earning double degrees, and the publication of over 500 peer-reviewed articles.

Karolinska Institutet awards grants from a large number of foundations and from donations. The foundations & donations award research and travel grants.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital have developed a microscopy method that enables detailed three-dimensional (3D) RNA analysis at cellular resolution in whole intact mouse brains. The new method, called TRISCO, has the potential to transform our understanding of brain function, both in normal conditions and in disease, according to a study in Science.

Welcome to Lara Stucki's presentation of her thesis ”Multiple environmental factors and cardiovascular disease”.

Tips from Grants Office regarding current calls

Doctoral students and others showcased their achievments during the Advances in Health Care Sciences 2024 conference held at ANA23, campus Flemingsberg on November 14-15.

Tobias Alfven attended session on COP29 in Azerbaijan focusing health and climate action, to present a report on the effects of climate change on child health and well-being. The session emphasized the urgent need to recognize the climate crisis as a health crisis, particularly for children, who are disproportionately affected due to their unique vulnerabilities from pregnancy through adolescence

After severe heart failure, the ability of the heart to heal by forming new cells is very low. However, after receiving treatment with a supportive heart pump, the capacity of a damaged heart to repair itself with new muscle cells becomes significantly higher, even higher than in a healthy heart. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Circulation.

Tobias Kammann from the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) at the Departmet of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) is defending his thesis titled "The diversity of MAIT cells across the human body and in COVID-19", on 29 November, 2024. Main supervisor is Johan Sandberg (MedH).

The Infrastructure Board at Karolinska Institutet (KI) has decided to fund nearly 30 of KI's core facilities with up to SEK 117 million for the period 2025-2028.

Hi Marko Bogdanovic, doctoral student at the Vascular Surgery research group, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery.

You will defend your thesis "Strategies to predict patient-specific outcomes after endovascular aneurysm repair" on December 5, 2024 . What is the main focus of the thesis?

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found a molecule that can both help the intestines to heal after damage and suppress tumour growth in colorectal cancer. The discovery could lead to new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and cancer. The results are published in the journal Nature.

Business magnate and honorary doctor at Karolinska Institutet Fredrik Lundberg is donating SEK 25 million for a continued investment in cardiovascular research. This is the fifth large donation made since 2007 by Lundberg, whose engagement has enabled research that has greatly improved therapeutic and surgical methods for cardiovascular diseases.

Vice-president Martin Bergö, University Director Veronika Sundström and I want to meet you in our open dialogue meetings in December. These meetings are important sources of perspective, knowledge and insight concerning pressing issues facing KI, such as how we can work even better together as a university and equip ourselves for a constantly changing world.

The FyFa faculty gathered on 18 November for a workshop to start the journey towards “Establishing a FyFa faculty with a shared vision and framework for a sustainable and excellent teaching organisation that fosters collaboration, competence, and world-class education” – FyFa’s strategical goal for the teaching organisation.

In a new study published in the European Heart Journal, researchers at Karolinska Institutet show that genetic traits influence the cellular composition of atherosclerotic plaques, which over time will affect the risk of such lesions to cause a stroke or heart attack. The new knowledge can be used to improve the risk assessment and treatment of patients with atherosclerosis in the future.

People with a genetic predisposition to dementia can reduce their risk by up to 35 percent by increasing their fitness, according to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. High levels of fitness are also linked to better cognitive ability, according to the study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet.

During the month of December, food waste management will be introduced in all of KI's buildings. When the food waste is sorted out from other waste, it can be recovered and used as, for example, biogas and biofertilizers. It reduces the burden on the environment and contributes to sustainable development. This has been mandatory for all households and businesses in Sweden since 1 January 2024.

Aortic aneurysm involves a risk of the large body artery rupturing, which is directly life-threatening. Hanna Björck, docent at Karolinska Institutet, has now been awarded Prince Daniel's grant for promising young researchers of SEK 6 million to develop future individual treatments.

Åsa Olsson, PhD student at NVS, is awarded the The Swedish Society of Nursing Doctoral Scholarship 2024. Her PhD project contributes significant knowledge about conversations regarding end-of-life care for the elderly.

After discussion in both the ANA Futura Drafting- and Steering Committee, the service team has purchased new porcelain for the coffee nodes in the extension/office building.

Common cardiovascular drugs are linked to a lower risk of dementia in older age, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

On 27 November, the Centre for Health Crises will host Sweden's first Health Crises Forum. The aim is to bring people together to discuss what universities can contribute with to support the surrounding society before, during and after a health crisis, and how they best collaborate with other actors.

Due to rising rental costs from our landlords, the rents will increase by 2% starting January 1, 2024.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have investigated how well different AI models can predict the prognosis of triple-negative breast cancer by analysing certain immune cells inside the tumour. The study, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, is an important step towards using AI in cancer care to improve patient health.

We congratulate the eleven researchers at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology who have been awarded grants from the Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) for the period 2025-2027. Together, the CMB researchers are awarded grants of over SEK 40 million.

In an era marked by extensive migration and uncertain living conditions for refugees and migrants, the mental health of these groups has become an increasingly urgent issue. Despite the growing needs, many do not receive the care they require. To address these challenges, a network for transcultural suicidology was launched last year. Meet Maria Sundvall, one of the initiators, who shares more about the network.

Congratulations to Marie Löf at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, who has been awarded a grant from FORTE.

Marie Löf is awarded a project grant of SEK 4 995 000 for the project "En digital, samskapad intervention tillgänglig på olika språk för att förebygga graviditetsdiabetes (Di-Prev): en randomiserad kontrollerad studie".

Helena Alpkvist from the Infectious Diseases and Dermatology Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, is defending her thesis titled "Damage-associated molecular patterns and pathogen-associated molecular patterns in severe bacterial infections", on 22 November, 2024. Main supervisor is Kristoffer Strålin (MedH).

Eleven researchers at the Department of Neuroscience were collectively awarded over 51.1 Million Swedish Kronor when the Swedish Research Council made decisions on calls within Antimicrobial Resistance, Medicine and Health as well as Humanities and Social Sciences for 2024.

The University of Toronto invites doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows at KI to apply to the summer course “Summer in Design” given by “Medicine in Design” given the 2-11th of June 2025.

Children whose mothers have taken antiseizure drugs during pregnancy are more likely than others to receive a neuropsychiatric diagnosis. This is according to a comprehensive study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and elsewhere, published in Nature Communications. However, the researchers emphasise that the absolute risk is low.

Tips from KI Grants Office about current calls.

The Olle Söder Award and Research Scholarships was presented at a Ceremony at Karolinska University Hospital.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) has published this year's 100 list of the most promising research projects from Sweden's colleges and universities. All applications to the list have been reviewed by IVA's expert group and the selected projects are considered to have great potential to benefit society. The list includes several projects involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Mehdi Astaraki, a specialist in artificial intelligence (AI) for medical imaging, has achieved remarkable success in the MICCAI BraTS Challenges. He secured first place in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Segmentation and second place in the Meningioma RT Segmentation categories.

The Swedish Brain Foundation has awarded its grants. NVS received five research grants and one scholarship.

The Swedish Research Council has awarded grants in areas such as medicine and health to 121 researchers at KI. In total, KI is allocated SEK 682,507,429 for the period 2024-2030.

The Committee for Research at Karolinska Institutet has decided on recipients from the Jonas Söderquist scholarship foundation for basic research in virology and immunology. The awarded are Benjamin Nilsson Payant at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology and Egle Kvedaraite at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics.

For three days 1 300 EMTs, researchers, health professionals, country delegates and others representing 130 countries gathered in Abu Dhabi for the World Health Organization’s Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) Global Meeting 2024. Members of the research group Global Disaster Medicine – Health Needs and Response, at the Department of Global Public Health at KI, attended the meeting and presented their work to build the EMT global network.

When the prestigious World Laureates Association (WLA) gathered members and invited guests for a conference in Shanghai in October, Robert Harris and other leading KI researchers were on hand to lecture on current research in life science and develop KI's international network of contacts. Among the participants were Joakim Franck, David Gross and nine other Nobel laureates.