News archive

Ernest Arenas, professor at Karolinska Institutet, passed away on September 15th at the age of 62. Dr. Arenas was widely known both within and outside Sweden as one of the pioneers in Parkinson’s disease research, with a strong commitment to developing better treatment strategies through cell replacement therapy.

Is your immune system functioning as it should? The question is not as simple to answer as one might think. Professor Petter Brodin is trying to understand more about it. At the same time, he hopes to help patients that are severely affected with post-COVID and other conditions where the regulation of the immune system is not working.

In a new study from the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), an alternative method for assessing the cancer potency of air pollution is presented, focusing on mixtures of organic pollutants in particles.

Our fat cells not only store energy, they are also involved in many physiological processes. Kirsty Spalding researches how dysfunctional fat cells impact health and disease in humans. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

A new study published in the journal Geroscience has investigated whether centenarians reach old age by surviving, delaying or even avoiding disease. By following individuals born in the same year from the age of 60 onwards, the researchers were able to track the disease patterns of those who died early and late in life.

Generation Pep wants all children and young people in Sweden to have the opportunity and desire to live an active and healthy life. They collaborate with established knowledge partners, including Karolinska Institutet. Generation Pep now presents the online training programme My Best Day, developed in collaboration with researchers at KI and others, with the aim of improving young people's health.

Eurolife's DATAETHICS project has been awarded for its innovative work on data ethics and Big Data in (bio)medical education, and has received funding for an international conference in December.

RNA-sequencing has become a cornerstone in the study of gene expression, offering insights beyond mere mRNA transcript abundances. One area of increasing interest is alternative splicing, a process that allows a single gene to produce multiple transcript variants and thus protein isoforms with potentially different functions. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), mutations in the splicing factor gene SF3B1 are well-documented, yet broader implications of SF3B1 mutations are underexplored.

StratNeuro Welcomes New Board Members and Thanks Outgoing Members

Unrestrained inflammation is associated with many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Peder Olofsson wants to understand how nerve signals regulate inflammation to ultimately improve therapeutic options. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

Concurrent with the ageing global population is a growing need of preventative action on age-related diseases. Weili Xu is studying how cardiovascular disease and diabetes influence the risk of developing cognitive failure and dementia. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

At a ceremony at Drottningholm Court Theatre on 3 September, HM Queen Silvia awarded diplomas to two doctors, a dentist, an audiologist and a dietitian, marking the end of Karolinska Institutet’s dementia courses, which were produced jointly with Stiftelsen Silviahemmet.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a mechanism responsible for a serious psychiatric complication caused by dopamine replacement therapy in Parkinson’s disease. The results of these findings were recently published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet has made a significant breakthrough in the study of childhood neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that begins before birth during the early stages of adrenal gland development.

Cervical cancer is a major global health problem. It ranks as the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women, despite the disease being largely preventable. Now, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have received funding from the UICC to investigate how an HPV self-screening programme can be implemented in war-torn Ukraine.

During the last two weeks of August, newly admitted KI students were invited to the introduction. The mild weather fitted like a glove with the warm atmosphere that permeated the many activities.

It is through our sensory perception that we experience our environment and bodily sensations. François Lallemend is studying the mechanisms underlying these perceptions in the hope of finding new treatments for sensory impairment. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

Those who wish to live to 100 cannot rely on chance. Instead, it is essential to keep biomarkers associated with ageing and disease in check. By the age of 60, it may already be too late.

You might be 50 years old, but your body could be as fresh as a 40-year-old’s ‒ or vice versa. Biological ageing has its own pace and rhythm. How we live our lives, what we experience, and the quality of medical treatment we receive all influence how quickly we wear out.

Bothnia dystrophy is a form of hereditary blindness, prevalent in the region Västerbotten in Sweden. A new study at Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Communications shows that gene therapy can improve vision in patients with the disease.

NASP has been redesignated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research, Methods Development and Training in Suicide Prevention.

The StratNeuro Postdoctoral funding is designed to support exceptional postdoctoral researchers in both basic and clinical neuroscience who are currently conducting research at KI. This year, we received 29 applications from 7 different departments.

Caroline Ran, researcher at Karolinska Institutet, and Jacob Edvinsson, researcher at Lund University, are the first authors of an article which has been awarded the best scientific article on cluster headache published between June 2023 and May 2024. It is the first time since 2004 that the prize goes to Sweden.

A third of the Swedish population lives with a chronic inflammatory skin disease, such as psoriasis, eczema and vitiligo. Liv Eidsmo is mapping the skin’s T cells to better understand why the diseases often recur at the same place. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

A new report from the Nordic Expert Group (NEG) and the Dutch Expert DECOS committee has evaluated the health hazards and calculated cancer risk of occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS).

The Myositis Clinic, led by Professor Ingrid Lundberg, is a world leader in research studies aimed at helping patients. The American Myositis Association is now recognizing their efforts with an award.

The restaurant Jöns Jacob on campus Solna is closed due to renovations. The café and the microwave hub will remain open as usual until renovations begin in those areas as well.

Welcome to Guillermo Vázquez Cabrera's presentation of his thesis ”Microglia: guardians across the lifespan and disease spectrum”.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet has mapped how a specific type of immune cells, MAIT cells, adapt and specialise in different tissues of the human body.

The risk of skin cancer for adults under the age of 50 is now decreasing for the first time in Sweden, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet published in JAMA Dermatology.

The understanding of congenital growth and skeletal diseases is currently limited. Ola Nilsson hopes to pave the way for new therapeutic strategies by charting the mechanisms driving these diseases. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

A groundbreaking study has shed new light on the mechanisms behind idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (myositis), a group of systemic autoimmune disorders known for causing severe muscle weakness, fatigue, and increased mortality.

A groundbreaking study from Karolinska Institutet, recently published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry offers new insights into the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The research reveals critical differences in the progression of memory loss based on the presence of specific proteins in the brain.

Prostate cancer accounts for more male deaths in Sweden than any other form of cancer. However, how the disease progresses and how fatal it is depend on the type of tumour. Olof Akre hopes to find better prognostic indicators that will help to personalise treatment. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced this year’s recipients of Starting Grants for young scientists and scholars across Europe. Six project applications submitted by researchers from Karolinska Institutet have secured grants totalling 9.8 million Euro – an important recognition for KI.

The research field of environmental physiology is returning to Karolinska Institutet after having belonged for many years to the Royal Institute of Technology. The move marks the start of an extended partnership between the Swedish Armed Forces and KI.

In a recent study published in Nature, Swedish researchers demonstrate the role of sex hormones in regulating the immune system. This newfound knowledge explains differences between men and women and can be used to develop new immunological medications according to researchers.

Luca Love from the Biosciences and Nutrition Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, is defending his thesis titled "Mechanisms controlling the latent HIV-1 provirus", on 12 September, 2024. Main supervisor is Peter Svensson (MedH).

Mitochondrial diseases are inherited and often affect children. With no effective treatment currently available, Anna Wredenberg hopes to discover more about mitochondrial function in order to improve both diagnosis and treatment. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

The cost of whole-genome sequencing is approaching that of the traditional genetic tests currently used for patients diagnosed with acute leukemia, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Economics. With costs falling and whole-genome sequencing adding new information that can improve treatment decisions, researchers see a future in which whole-genome sequencing becomes the standard for acute leukemias.

Congratulations Agnes Wahrenberg, PhD student of the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, on receiving the prestigious “Young Investigators Award in Atherothrombosis, Coronary, Aortic and Peripheral Artery Disease,” at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress in London.

There has been concern that common diabetes drugs could increase the risk of suicide and self-harm. In a new study, led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in Jama Internal Medicine, no such risk increase was observed.

Acute respiratory infections are one of the most common reasons for medical treatment in Sweden and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Anna Smed Sörensen hopes that a better understanding of the immune system in the airways will make serious disease preventable. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

In Research.com's list of the best female researchers in Sweden, two researchers from IMM rank among the top ten: Alicja Wolk and Marie Vahter.

Severe, lasting hot flushes during menopause are associated with atherosclerosis in the coronary artery, new research from Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association reveals.

In a study recently published in PLoS pathogens, researchers at AIMES, The Center for the Advancement of Integrated Medical and Engineering Sciences at Karolinska Institutet, have identified one of the subtle, yet effective, pathways by which human skin differentiates commensals and pathogens. Understanding these mechanisms opens for new treatment and prevention targets, and particularly ways in which to enhance innate immunity to prevent antibiotic resistant infections.

Long-term use of beta-blockers in patients with myocardial infarction and preserved heart function does not significantly change quality of life or well-being compared to no beta-blockers. This according to a study from Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University, presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress in London and simultaneously published in the European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy.

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) will be teaming up with specialists from KI again this year for a vaccinology course aimed at healthcare professionals and researchers from around the world. The course also now forms part of doctoral education at KI.

Heatwaves in sub-Saharan Africa are predicted to become more common due to climate change. A new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and others, published in Nature Medicine, reveals a worrying correlation between high temperatures in the final week of pregnancy and an increased risk of stillbirth and early neonatal mortality.

This year's Ulf von Euler Lecture ‘Treatment of Metabolic Diseases with Gut Hormones’ will be given by Jens Juul Holst, professor of medical physiology at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, and senior group leader at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research, both at the University of Copenhagen. The lecture will take place on 8 November.