News archive

For one intensive week in June, 25 high-level professionals and leaders from 21 countries gathered at Kämpasten outside Sigtuna to take part in the masterclass of the Executive Programme in International Politics and Diplomacy for Health, jointly run by Karolinska Institutet and the Stockholm School of Economics. The programme equips professionals with the skills and tools needed to navigate complex political processes for health at the global and regional levels.

Save the Date!
Book November 5th for an FoUU-day for clinicians and researchers in psychiatry in Region Stockholm. A day when we come together to shape research and education for the future of psychiatry!

Christoffer Rahm, psychiatrist and associate professor at Karolinska Institutet, has been granted funding from Safe Online for a new international research project. The aim is to build a global database and long-term research platform focusing on the prevention of child sexual abuse - through increased knowledge, international collaboration and studies of long-term effects.

Shane Wright, Assistant Professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and colleagues have uncovered a new way to tailor signaling responses mediated by common drug targets that coincidentally shares ties with our department’s history. The work, recently published in Cell, reveals a novel drug mechanism with the potential for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. Shane tells us more about it below.

Lower blood sugar and increased fat burning – without negatively affecting appetite or muscle mass. These are some of the most promising effects of a new potential drug treatment for people with type 2 diabetes and obesity, according to a new study published in the journal Cell by researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University.

Prach Techameena, PhD student at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded a research fellowship from the IBSA Foundation for scientific research. The project, in the category of pain medicine/ orthopaedics/ rheumatology, was one of six selected globally in the 12th edition of the IBSA Foundation Fellowships.

Karolinska University Hospital has, for the first time in Sweden, begun preparations to treat a patient with multiple myeloma using CAR-T cell therapy in routine healthcare – an advanced form of immunotherapy where the patient's own T-cells are programmed to attack cancer cells. The treatment is aimed at patients who no longer respond to previous treatment options and offers new hope for a difficult-to-treat blood cancer.

On 25 June, Karolinska Institutet will be starting a major recruitment drive for 20 early-career researchers with a focus on excellence and mobility. As one of the world’s leading medical universities, KI offers fully developed research infrastructure, exchanges with other pre-eminent researchers, secure financing for pioneering research and support to make sure accompanying family members also feel at home.

Treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is effective and can cure the majority of those affected, according to psychologist and researcher Maria Bragesjö, who introduced the treatment method to Sweden. Through her research, she hopes even more people will receive help.

On June 5–6, 2025, the Horizon 2020 FET project EXPERIENCE held its final Consortium Meeting in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

On Thursday afternoon, paediatrician and professor of global paediatric health Tobias Alfvén was asked if Karolinska Institutet could receive a visit from Vietnam's prime minister less than a day later. The answer was yes and the meeting resulted in concrete actions for the future.

Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness and affects 80 million people around the world. Pete Williams, researcher at Karolinska Institutet and St Erik Eye Hospital, has now been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for his work on new treatments for the disease. The ERC Advanced Grant is one of the most eminent awards a researcher can receive.

Håkan Mellstedt, Professor at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, has passed away at the age of 82.
He is mourned by his wife Eva and Håkan’s brother with family. He leaves behind a long and exceptionally successful legacy as a colleague, researcher, and friend.

Dr. Marcos Rojas, a former exchange student and now a research manager at Stanford Chariot Lab, recently revisited Karolinska Institutet and met with Anna Svenningson at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health. We took the opportunity to ask him how his exchange year almost a decade ago influenced his career and personal development.

Earlier this month, Karolinska Institutet participated in the Erasmus+ International Staff Week hosted by Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH) in Elche, Spain – a key partner in NeurotechEU, the European University of Brain and Technology.

As part of the KI NeurotechEU Collaborative Award 2025, PhD student Jianing Lin from Karolinska Institutet undertook a valuable educational visit to Prof. Ruiz de Almodóvar’s lab at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn in Germany. Supported by the NeurotechEU alliance, this short-term exchange provided hands-on training, networking opportunities, and the foundation for a new cross-institutional collaboration in the field of neurovascular biology.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University have identified a new treatment strategy for neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. By combining two antioxidant enzyme inhibitors, they have converted cancer cells in mice into healthy nerve cells. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Region Stockholm and Region Jönköping have been awarded a project grant of 5,995,000 SEK from Forte to conduct a four-year research project aimed at improving knowledge about the temporal dynamics of the suicidal process and developing an intervention for individualized support during suicidal crises.

Today, we know that individual climate action can yield great benefits for human health, and in discussions about lifestyle, healthcare professionals have the opportunity to highlight benefits of a plant-forward diet and physical activity for both individual patient outcomes as well as planetary health. But how are such messages received by patients?

Warm congratulations to Mika Gissler at the Translational Psychiatry research group, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, who has now published 1,000 scientific articles.

Associate Professor Kristiina Tammimies conducts frontline research on the medical, genetic, and molecular underpinnings of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Among other things, she and her research team are working on the complex and much debated issue of heredity versus environment as a cause of autism.

Each project has been awarded 3 million SEK over a two-year period.

A recent study published in the journal Science Advances sheds light on the intriguing phenomenon of ticklishness. It explores why certain touches make us laugh uncontrollably while others do not, and why we cannot tickle ourselves.

Air pollution is one of the most significant health threats in the world. In Sweden, air quality is improving, but in other parts of the world, the trend is going in the wrong direction. At the same time, research shows that even very low levels of pollution, below legal limits, harm our health.

People with asthma are particularly sensitive to air pollution, which can exacerbate their symptoms. Here, Liselott Florén explains how air quality affects her daily life.

Long-term Western diet impairs islet blood vessel function and insulin transport even after diet reversal and weight loss, according to a new study from researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Multidisciplinary researchers will come together in a new consortium, led by Professor Kenny Rodriguez-Wallberg, Karolinska Institute, to develop biomarkers to predict late effects and infertility in adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients, and to develop clinical care guidelines. Predict AYA will receive nearly EUR 7 million in funding from the European Union’s Horizon programme Mission Cancer.

Suganthi Jaganathan researches air pollution in India. Among other findings, she has shown that poor air quality caused 16.6 million deaths in India over a ten-year period.

Toxicologist Hanna Karlsson investigates the health effects of the tiniest particles in the air. Those found in Barcelona’s harbour appear to be more inflammatory than others.

A protein from the bacterium Helicobacter pylori has been shown to block the formation of harmful protein aggregates - known as amyloids - that are linked to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and type 2 diabetes, among other diseases, and bacterial infections. This is the result of a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

Anne-Sophie Merritt, a researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, has investigated how much air pollution people are exposed to depending on their mode of transport.

One plus one does not equal two - it is more. Researchers have developed a method to analyse the toxic effects of mixed air pollutants. The method reveals greater health damage from poor air quality than analyses of individual substances suggest.

On 13 May, the KI President made the decision to appoint Jonas Fuxe as professor of molecular pathology at the Department of Laboratory Medicine. The appointment is valid from 1 June 1 2025.

Two researchers at the Centre for Cluster Headache at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded two stipends and one grant to support their innovative research on cluster headache. The awards, granted by the International Headache Society, the Swedish Headache Society, H. Lundbeck AB, and Pfizer, aim to advance the understanding and treatment of headache conditions.

This intensive blended learning course equips PhD researchers with the entrepreneurial mindset, skills, and tools needed to transform scientific discoveries into viable innovations.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet involving over a million women links difficult childhood experiences to the risk of being diagnosed with endometriosis later in life. The study shows a link between childhood exposure to violence and a twofold increase in the risk of developing this gynaecological disease.

Professor Niklas Björkström at the Institution of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), Karolinska Institutet, is awarded the Eric K. Fernströms prize for younger, especially talented and promising researcher for "his outstanding research on natural killer (NK) cells in humans."

Researchers at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, have presented new research on how some people with HIV can control the virus without treatment. The results show that gut bacteria and a specific dipeptide can play an important role and open up new ways to prevent HIV.

A new Swedish registry study shows that women who are affected by cervical cancer are not only at risk of mental health and financial difficulties themselves – their children and partners also appear to be negatively affected. The study is published in the prestigious scientific Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Infants who survive serious health problems in the first few weeks of life have a higher risk of dying during childhood and adolescence compared to children who were healthy as newborns. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

NordForsk has recently granted funding to five new research projects aimed at developing sustainable health and care systems for older people in the Nordic region.

Patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19 exhibit cardiac systolic dysfunction and small vessel disease at long-term follow-up. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital published in Jama Network Open.

The European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) has named Professor Emeritus Olle Söder as the recipient of the 2025 Andrea Prader Prize – the highest international honour in the field of paediatric endocrinology.

From the 13th of October to the 16th, Final-year Master’s students in the field of neurotechnology, PhD candidates, post-doctoral and early-career researchers are invited to attend 3 days of training at the Université de Lille and one optional day dedicated to a cultural visit.

This blended course introduces the field of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, with a focus on Heart Rate Variability (HRV). Students learn to measure, interpret, and apply psychophysiological signals to improve mental performance and well-being.

Degree ceremonies for students on KI’s Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes were held on 5 and 6 June, and as tribute was paid to the graduates, an atmosphere of joy, expectation and pride filled Aula Medica.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men globally. Diagnosing prostate cancer involves examining tissue samples under a microscope, a process that can be inconsistent and yield different results by different pathologists for the same sample, potentially affecting patient treatment. In some unclear cases, extra testing called immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used, but it adds cost, time, and lab work.

The Lancet has announced a new commission aimed at reorienting frailty in clinical practice, public health, and policy. Davide Liborio Vetrano is one of two experts from Karolinska Institutet, who are involved in this important initiative.

Nina Bošković from the Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit (GUT), at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) defends her thesis titled "Oxygen levels regulating Embryonic Genome Activation", on 13 June, 2025. Main supervisor is Juha Kere (MedH).

Hi Vilma Alanko, doctoral student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics. On June 13 you will defend your thesis ”Translational studies on biological signatures, risk profiles, and prevention of dementia.” What is the main focus of the thesis?