News archive

To maintain balance, several factors must align. The inner ears and eyes need to send accurate signals to the brain. Good motor skills and sense of touch, especially in the feet, along with a healthy brain, are necessary. It is not surprising that balance disorders can occur, but how should they be treated?

In recent weeks, the Swedish Government has issued several new assignments in health crisis preparedness, to be carried out by the National Board of Health and Welfare, including an assignment to establish a national reinforcement resource (nationell försörjningsresurs) for disaster medicine.

The study "Androgens Modulate the Immune Profile in a Mouse Model of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome" sheds light on immune dysfunction as a possible aspect of PCOS pathology, which could constitute a novel target for therapies.

Astrid Paul Nordin from the Heart and Lung Diseases Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) is defending her thesis titled "Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation - methods for improving outcome", on 31 May, 2024. Main supervisor is Nikola Drca (MedH).

In a study published in Nature Communications, scientists have made significant strides in understanding the complex interplay between the immune system and cancer metabolism in breast cancer treatment. The research offers new insights into how the immune state and cancer metabolism evolve during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, and the third most common cause of death of cancer in women. In 2022, the incidence was estimated to 660 000 new cases and 350 000 deaths. In Sweden, around 450-550 new cases are diagnosed each year, and the incidence has been fairly stable since the 1980s.

Professor Eleni Aklillu‘s appointment as a member of the World Health Organization's Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO-TDR) Scientific Working Group (SWG) extends until 2026. This extension covers the period from 2024 to 2026, reinforcing Professor Aklillu's ongoing contributions to this crucial international body.

Together with UNICEF, Karolinska Institutet hosted the Bold Ideas for Brighter Futures conference on May 15-16. Klas Bergling, father of Tim Bergling, known as Avicii, was one of the speakers who spoke about his experiences of mental illness in young people.

To foster fresh collaborations and interactions across the NeurotechEU network, the KI NeurotechEU group is introducing funding opportunities for short-term visits by KI faculty and researchers.

Zebrafish have a remarkable ability to heal their spinal cord after injury. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have uncovered an important mechanism behind this phenomenon – a finding that could have implications for the treatment of spinal cord injury in humans.

The Strategic Neuroscience Research Network (StratNeuro) at Karolinska Institutet celebrated the International Brain Awareness Week with an open symposium on Monday 11 March 2024.

We are delighted to have Xiangru (Ben) Zheng as a visiting scholar in our lab. Ben is a liver surgeon at Chongqing Medical University. He will participate in multiple ongoing projects and bring his clinical expertise to our group. We hope for a great collaboration ahead Ben!

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with a slightly increased risk of heart failure up to 20 years after diagnosis, according to a comprehensive registry study from Karolinska Institutet published in the European Heart Journal.

A reinterment ceremony for Christina Larsdotter, the famous Sami woman whose remains were rediscovered in KI’s anatomical collection in 2022, was held in Malå on Saturday, 25 May. KI’s request to repatriate Larsdotter’s remains to Malå’s Sami Association and Malå Sami village was granted by the government last September.

Welcome to Emilie Helte's defense of the thesis "Exposures through drinking water and risk of chronic disease" on May 24.

Sophie Walton Bernstedt from the Gastroenterology and Rheumatology Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), is defending her thesis "Risk factors for colorectal cancer and the impact on life in Lynch syndrome", on 24 May, 2024. Main supervisor is Ann-Sofie Backman (MedH).

Jacob Hollenberg, Mattias Ringh and Leif Svensson, at the Department of Clinical Research and Education, Södersjukhuset at Karolinska Institutet, are awarded for using innovative technology to develop an outstanding app and method, which increases the chance of survival for people who have suffered a cardiac arrest .

Camilla Björkegren has been appointed Head of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB), starting June 1, 2024.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have succeeded in delivering targeted cancer treatment via small membrane bubbles that our cells use to communicate. A new study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering shows that the treatment reduces tumour growth and improves survival in mice.

Madeleine Lehander from the Hematology Unit/HERM, at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), is defending her thesis "Exploring T Cell Mediated Immunotherapy against Therapy Resistant Leukemic Stem Cells", on 24 May 2024. Main supervisor is Petter Woll (MedH).

Caroline Ran is one of three researchers awarded Pfizer's and the Swedish Headache Society's newly established research grant in migraine studies. Her research focuses on the correlation between migraine and mental health. The grant will be presented at the SHS annual meeting in Halmstad on 15 May 15 2024.

A study conducted in collaboration with the National Center for Suicide Research and Prevention (NASP) has examined an association between screen time spent on social media, anxiety, and self-esteem among elementary school girls in Stockholm County.

Karolinska Institutet has signed a memorandum of understanding with the pharmaceutical company Chiesi, which has an office and laboratory facility in KI Science Park. The parties have agreed to strengthen efforts that can accelerate research and development in areas such as respiratory diseases, rare diseases, and neonatology.

On Thursday May 16, KI Housing will start using a Case Management System.

Welcome to the two-day symposium ”Astrocytes in Brain Function and Disease” at Nobel Forum, Campus Solna on June 10-11, 2024. Interesting speakers from all over the world participate. See full program below. Register no later than May 20!

As the buds have burst and the traditional Swedish spring songs have been sung, we are approaching graduation. On Thursday and Friday, May 30 and 31, the graduation ceremonies for all KI’s study programmes will be held. Get inspiration from four of the graduating students’ memories and plans.

The hall at the Swedish Society of Medicine in Stockholm was buzzing with people and conversations when the Association, along with the Centre for Health Crises at KI, organised a seminar on attacks on healthcare in conflicts and war on Thursday 2 May 2024. Those who could not make it to the capital participated online. Presentations and panel discussions with experts and health professionals working in war zones highlighted the important issue from various perspectives.

Danuta Wasserman, professor of psychiatry and suicidology at the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention (NASP) and chair of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), participates in an interview with the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais – in a discussion about the increasing mental health problems, suicide, and the global challenges we face.

The Global Child Health and SDGs research group is currently hosting three researchers from the HoliCare project’s African partner institutions, namely Senegal, Ethiopia and Uganda. The aim of the exchange is research capacity building of local researchers in partnership with Africa-based research institutions that are project partners.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet, together with Pixelgen Technologies, have developed and applied a technique that makes it possible to map proteins in individual cells in a completely new way, according to a new study in Nature Methods. Not only is it now possible to measure the amount of proteins, but also how they are distributed in the cell's membrane and how they interact with each other.

Welcome to Jessica Edstorp's defence of her doctoral thesis "Infections, antibiotics, tobacco, genetic factors and risk of LADA - latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, and type 2 diabetes" at Karolinska Institutet on 17 May.

Reumatikerförbundet allocates over 15 million kronor for research on rheumatic diseases in 2024. Out of a total of 98 approved projects, 34 are located at the Karolinska Institutet, sharing six and a half million kronor.

Elena Rafetti joined the Department of Global Public Health and the PRIME group in October 2023. She has a rich experience from previous roles at the University of Cambridge, Uppsala University and PhD at KI. Elena's research focuses on the effects of climate extremes on population health. This addition to the Department brings a new perspective to the Global Public Health research.

On April 23, it was time for the new KI university management to visit NVS. They are currently on a tour visiting all departments during the late autumn 2023 and spring 2024.

Researchers from the Vascular Surgery Group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, have teamed up with 20 clinical research centres, universities, professional associations, SMEs and non-profit representative organisations of civil society in a new EU Horizon Europe project NextGen, aiming to develop the next generation tools for genome-centric multimodal data integration in personlised cardiovascular medicine.

The course “Medicinpedagogiskt utvecklingsprojekt: en fördjupningskurs” supports teachers’ professional development and stimulates an academic approach to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

The StratNeuro Start-up Grant is intended to support outstanding Neuroscience researchers at the beginning of their careers. StratNeuro will allocate in total SEK 6,000,000 to fund this initiative, each project receiving SEK 500,000/year for a period of two years.

On behalf of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, researchers Lena Dahlberg and Mariam Kirvalidze have done a scoping review of informal caregiving and loneliness. More specifically, the report examines loneliness in spousal carers aged 65 years and older, the factors that increase the risk of loneliness in this group, the consequences of loneliness, and how they themselves experience loneliness.

KI, Karolinska University Hospital and AstraZeneca are entering into a tripartite collaboration to promote the development of precision medicine in Sweden. The ambition is that patients throughout the country will have access to tailored prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

As the numbers of pediatric brain cancer survivors continue improving, the numbers of individuals developing life-long neurocognitive impairments are consequently expected to rise.

We want to welcome Jialiang Sun Wang to our lab. Jialiang is a PhD student from University of Barcelona. He is coming to our lab for a short stay to learn the ChIPseq technique. We are looking forward to a great discussion and collaboration ahead. Welcome Jialiang!

A preclinical study from Karolinska Institutet offers hope for treating severe neurodegenerative diseases with an existing drug. The study suggests that the leprosy drug clofazimine may be effective in the treatment of Huntington’s disease.

In an article published in Nature, researchers from Karolinska Institutet present an atlas of the early development of the brain. The atlas can be used, among other things, to find out what went wrong in the development of brain tumors in children and also to find new treatments.

Last Friday, 150 new KI doctors and two honorary doctors were presented with their academic awards at a formal ceremony in Stockholm City Hall. The evening was one of stirring entertainment, academic tradition – and an academic vice president in a Barbra Streisand wig.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet may have found a new way to treat obesity and related disorders by targeting the cells’ powerhouses, the mitochondria. A study published in Nature Metabolism shows that a specific class of drugs that block mitochondrial function can reverse diet-induced obesity, fatty liver and diabetes in mice.

Researchers at the Thoracic Surgery research group, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, have performed a study of patients who underwent bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement in Sweden between 2003 and 2018.
The study is published in JAMA Network Open and shows varying performance between different mechanical cardiac valves.

New parents were in focus when the KI Impact Challenge was arranged on a weekend, a student event to promote innovation. More than 40 students worked over two days on the challenge of improving parents' health and well-being.

For the 12th Tissue and Motion Conference, Karolinska Institutet researchers returned to Djurönäset Hotel on 16th-17th April 2024 to discuss research, network, and enjoy Stockholm’s archipelago.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a web-based platform that provides a whole new insight into the human body at the cellular level. The aim is to create an invaluable resource for researchers worldwide to increase knowledge about human health and disease. The study is published in Genome Biology.

On 25 April it was eight years since Ahmadreza Djalali, Swedish citizen and doctor of disaster medicine at Karolinska Institutet, was arrested while on a visit to Iran. Karolinska Institutet’s president, Annika Östman Wernerson, and vice-president, Martin Bergö, have written an open letter to Sweden’s minister for foreign affairs and minister for education, calling on them to use all means available to increase the pressure on Iran to free Dr Djalali and other Swedish citizens.