News archive

Seven researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics have been granted project funds from the Swedish Research Council. Together the department receives SEK 43.6 million.

The large number of external research grants this autumn give the researchers at the Department of Medicine Solna the possibility to continue their important work and to start up new projects that will contribute to new knowledge benefitting the society.

Researchers from the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (Eriksdotter group) in collaboration with the Departments of MEB (Carrero group) and Clintec (Bruchfeld group) at KI have recently had their study published in Kidney International (IF 19). This paper is the first study linking activation of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathways to kidney damage in humans.

To further strengthen our teaching, we are now announcing up to three MBB Frontier Teaching Awards, which are aimed at identifying, recruiting, and supporting dedicated personnel at MBB who have a special interest and skill in engaging in the further development of our teaching. Apply at the latest by 15 December.

New faculty representatives for and members of the Faculty Board, its three committees and of the Faculty Council for the term of office commencing 1 Jan 2023 and ending 31 Dec 2025.

The course "Teaching in the glocal university" is an introduction to teaching and learning at an international university. It is still possible to apply to the courses given during the Spring term.

B cells are critical to the proper functioning of the immune system. However, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown that they can sometimes do more harm than good, as their numbers greatly increase after bowel damage, preventing the tissue from healing. The results, which are presented in the journal Immunity, can be of significance to the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

The answer to this question is not just interesting to know. It also offers clues to the mechanisms behind schizophrenia, explains Konstantina Kilteni, researcher at the department of neuroscience.

The Board of Sven and Ebba-Christina Hagberg's foundation has decided to award Cristiana Cruceanu and Hugo Zeberg the foundations personal prize and a research grant, for a total of SEK 650,000 each. The prize will be awarded at the annual Installation Ceremony at the Karolinska Institutet in October 2023.

This is the first employee survey that has been performed since the establishment of Facility Management (FM), in 2018. The survey allowed all employees in Biomedicum to answer 18 questions about FM's service and support. What works well and what can be improved. 

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”.

Email about emergency contact will be sent out to all employees at KI on December 5 from our digital archive.

Tips from Grants Office regarding current calls

New travel agency aggreement with AMEX-GBT starts today December 1st

Researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Karolinska Institutet are part of a collaborative study that has made progress in the testing of an innovative contraceptive method, a vaginal gel, that preclinical studies have shown prevents sperm from reaching the egg. The results are described in a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Due to planned system maintenance, the library's website kib.ki.se will be partly unavailable on Tuesday 6 December, between 08–09. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Click on a door and get a movement from us every day until Christmas.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have conducted a pioneering study analysing internet-delivered anonymous cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for people who view images or videos of children being sexually abused. The participants, who were mainly recruited via forums on the encrypted part of the internet called Darknet, reported less use of such material after therapy. The study is published in the journal Internet Interventions.

Volunteer so-called SMS lifesavers in Sweden, who are alerted to cardiac arrests nearby using a mobile app, perform a large part of life-saving efforts before the ambulance, police or emergency services arrive, regardless if they are instructed to collect the nearest defibrillator or not. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in JAMA Cardiology.

To improve understanding of mental health, today’s symptom-based diagnoses need to be complemented with biological criteria accounting for differences between individuals and the sexes. A major EU-funded research project, coordinated by Uppsala University, will pursue an interdisciplinary path towards better strategies to protect vulnerable individuals from mental illness. Three research teams at Karolinska Institutet participate in the project.

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”.

On Thursday, December 1, starting after 7 p.m., ki.se will be updated, including staff.ki.se, education.ki.se and news.ki.se.

The grant is awarded by Vinnova in the European call "ERA PerMed 2022: Personalised Prevention".

We open the first calls for 2023, January 10th.

Olof Stephansson at the Department of Medicine, Solna, conducts research on the care of women and their infants during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. He is now awarded funds from NordForsk to investigate the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic for mothers and reproductive health in order to produce useful knowledge in the face of similar social crises.

We welcome our new environmental and sustainability representatives : Emma Swärdh and Sumonto Mitra! They each had to answer a few questions, and this is how it turned out:

Daniel Berglind at the Department of Global Public Health is awarded 3 648 000 SEK from the Swedish Cancer Society and 3 512 336 SEK from Forma for two movement projects on preschool and school children's physical activity.

NVS is pleased that we have 17 lecturers who have now been promoted to KI's new positions as Assistant Senior Lecturer. These have then gone from Lecturer position to position as Assistant Senior Lecturer. We congratulate you all!

Karolinska Institutet and Cancer Research UK’s innovation engine, Cancer Research Horizons, have announced a 5-year strategic partnership dedicated to accelerating the translation of academic cancer research into improved treatments for patients.

On 5 December, the IT Office will implement some changes regarding permissions for externally shared files in OneDrive/SharePoint/Microsoft 365. This affects staff sharing files with external users.

Even as a child, Martin Bergö wanted to be a scientist. And he did. His biggest discovery so far is that vitamins can worsen the prognosis for cancer patients.

Petra Peterson at the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery research group, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend her thesis "A multidisciplinary long-term evaluation of patients born with unilateral cleft lip and palate treated with different surgical protocols" on December 2, 2022.
Main Supervisor is Agneta Karsten, Dentmed.

Conferment ceremonies, professorial installation ceremonies and degree ceremonies – the academic year is full of such formal occasions. Common to all of them are the student ushers, who help to keep the proceedings running smoothly. It is a prestigious role, say chief usher Philip Wallenius and vice-chief usher Ida Dahlgren, who will soon be graduating themselves.

Eduardo Villablanca, Department of Medicine, Solna has received a FORMAS grant of SEK 3 million. He and his team will study the immunotoxic effects of PFAS in the intestinal mucosal immune responses.

In cannabis trials against pain, people who take placebos report feeling largely the same level of pain relief as those who consume the active cannabinoid substance. Still, these studies receive significant media coverage regardless of the clinical outcome, report researchers from Karolinska Institutet in a study published in JAMA Network Open.

The newborn care researchers in the global child health and sustainable development goals team have had a visit from research colleagues at the Phu San Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, November 23-26. The visit included workshops on ongoing and upcoming collaborations and studies including the NeoSpirit project and planning for future Vietnamese PhD candidates as well as visiting hospitals.

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.

Michael Dismorr at the research group Thoracic Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, defended his thesis "Epidemiological studies of bioprosthetic aortic valves" on November 18th, 2022.
Main Supervisor: Ulrik Sartipy.

Thank you to all 412 people who participated in this year's "Pepatwork" exercise challenge!

This year's MedS Day, held on October 17, gave employees and affiliates a long-awaited opportunity to meet and take part in the department’s ongoing activities.

The risk of being infected by parvovirus is elevated in those people who have blood group Rh(D), according to a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with Octapharma.

On 15 December, a change will be implemented when signing in with MFA that affects those who use the push function of the Microsoft Authenticator mobile app.

Three researchers at NVS share the sum.

Four researchers at Karolinska Institutet (KI) are awarded the Silver Medal this year. This medal is awarded to individuals who have made excellent efforts in support of KI’s activities, and these people will be recognised in conjunction with the ceremony for Diligence and Devotion in February 2023.

The four researchers awarded the Silver Medal award are Göran Dahllöf, Lena Borell, Marianne Schultzberg and Rolf Kiessling.

At its meeting of 30 September, the Karolinska Institutet University Board decided that the Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine (MWLC), KI’s research centre in Hong Kong, is to close at the turn of 2023/2024.

Professor Danuta Wasserman, the fouder and current head of department for National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of Mental Ill-Health, was given the honor to give the opening keynote lecture at the 9th World Congress on Women's Mental Health.

Tips from KI Grants Office about current calls.

Researchers at Karolinska have uncovered how brain circuits encode the start, duration and sudden change of speed of locomotion. The study is published in Neuron.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified the bacteria most commonly found in severe oral infections. Few such studies have been done before, and the team now hopes that the study can provide deeper insight into the association between oral bacteria and other diseases. The study is published in Microbiology Spectrum.