News archive

Depression and psychosis are more common in women after childbirth than before, but the risk of suicide attempts decreases. This is shown by two new studies from Karolinska Institutet. The results suggest that national guidelines for screening can help women get help earlier.

A study led by Vincenzo Condello and Christofer Juhlin, has been published in Endocrine Pathology. The researchers explored why some papillary thyroid cancers don’t respond well to radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy - a key treatment used after surgery to eliminate remaining thyroid cancer cells.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, together with international colleagues, have identified a protein that is crucial for the TBE virus to infect human cells. The discovery, published in the journal Nature, could pave the way for new treatments for tick-borne encephalitis.

KI researcher Samir EL Andaloussi has been awarded the Swedish Society for Medical Research’s (SSMF) Jubilee Prize of SEK five million for his groundbreaking research in gene therapies that could revolutionise the treatment of hard-to-treat diseases. The recipient will also receive an honorary medal presented by H.M. The Queen on 17 October.

Current treatment strategies for endocrine and metabolic diseases are often sub-optimal. Both the diseases and the treatments can have adverse effects on the brain. Svetlana Lajic hopes to improve therapeutic strategies. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October. 

Women who miss their first mammogram run a higher risk of being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and dying from the disease. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the scientific journal BMJ.

The first revolution in quantum technology paved the way for mobile telephony and GPS navigation. With its extreme computational capacity, the technique is now of interest to the field of life science and could prove the key to such advances as smarter drug development and optimised therapies to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. By virtue of its involvement in the Swedish Quantum Life Science Centre, KI is a driver of the country’s research in the field.

The Biophysical Society has selected Erdinc Sezgin, Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet, SciLifeLab and the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, as the recipient of the 2026 Early Independent Career Award. The award recognises his outstanding work combining chemistry, physics, biology and computer science to advance fundamental and translational insights into how the biophysics of cells influence health and disease.

Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Pete Williams wants to find new ways of treating this disease by protecting and restoring nerve cells in the eye. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

A study shows that people with higher levels of the protein albumin in their urine are at increased risk of developing dementia. The study, led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, is published in the scientific journal Journal of Internal Medicine.

On September 18, the National Board of Health and Welfare published the official cause of death statistics for 2024. The National centre for suicide research and prevention (NASP) at Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm has now analyzed and compiled data on suicides in Sweden.

When the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) selected the research leaders of the future three years ago as part of the prestigious programme ‘Future Research Leaders’ (FFL), KI researcher Arvid Guterstam was one of the 16 selected. The award offers researchers the opportunity to further develop their research with a grant of SEK 15 million over a five-year period. Halfway through the programme, Arvid Guterstam talks here about his results within the framework of the programme.

On 8–9 September 2025, the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet welcomed researchers from across Europe for an international workshop focused on advanced statistical techniques for tracking the evolution of multimorbidity.

Emma Johansson, Senior Consultant and Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the Ellis and Ivar Janzon Prize 2025 by the Swedish Society of Medicine. The prize recognizes scientific excellence in the fields of dermatology and venereology and will be presented at the society’s annual ceremony on 21 October 2025.

RNA is central to how cells function. Through the detailed study of RNA that combines molecular biology with advanced bioinformatics, Vicente Pelechano Garcia hopes to contribute to the development of a new generation of RNA-based treatment and diagnosis. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October. 

Firearm injuries have increased significantly in Sweden over the past decade, and with them the need for medical understanding about how best to treat these injuries. In a new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet, Karolina Nyberger, doctoral student at the Vascular Surgery group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, examines the injury pattern in gun violence, with a particular focus on bleeding and vascular injuries.

During the ongoing Preparedness Week (Beredskapsveckan), the importance of being ready for crises is highlighted. When infectious diseases spread rapidly, it takes more than medical expertise and knowledge – it also requires the ability to collaborate under pressure. Hedvig Glans, expert coordinator at the Centre for Health Crises, recently participated in an international exercise focused on exactly this.

Dr M. Madan Babu, this year's Ulf von Euler lecturer, wants to understand how cells control and regulate their various functions. Through his research, he aims to reveal why certain diseases arise when the regulation in cells does not function as it should. Dr Babu works at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, USA.

Jutta Jalkanen from the Center for Reproduction, Metabolism and Molecular medicine (CeRM), at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) defends her thesis titled "Unveiling Human White Adipose Tissue Diversity at Single-Cell Resolution", on 26 September, 2025. Main supervisor is Mikael Rydén (MedH).

The greatest challenge facing current treatments of leukaemia is drug resistance. Hong Qian studies the microenvironment where the cancer cells are formed with the aim to find new treatment pathways. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

Hi Magdalena Fresk, doctoral student at the Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care . On October 10 you will defend your thesis ”International classification of functioning, disability and health in the sickness certification process” What is the main focus of the thesis?

Faisal Alagrafi from the Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine (HERM) at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) defends his thesis titled "The Role of gamma delta T Cells in Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Malignancies", on 26 September, 2025. Main supervisor is Michael Uhlin (MedH).

Inflammatory bowel disease affects millions of people worldwide and currently lacks a cure. Eduardo Villablanca studies how inflammation starts and heals in the intestines, with the aim to find new treatment methods. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

Researchers have conducted the most extensive study to date on adults who have never had sexual intercourse. The findings, published in PNAS, suggest that lifelong sexlessness is associated with a multifaceted interplay of psychological, social, and genetic factors.

Over 70 employees and students from Karolinska Institutet participated in this year's international conference for health and medical education, AMEE 2025, which was held in Barcelona. The conference brought together over 4,000 participants from around the world and offered both future outlooks and important discussions on the role of education in a rapidly changing healthcare.

Social Affairs and Public Health Minister Jakob Forssmed recently visited Karolinska Institutet to attend an international seminar arranged to mark the launch of “A call to action for adolescents mental health and wellbeing”, the second report from the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing.

Everything we perceive is the result of neuronal activity in our brains. Daniel Lundqvist uses advanced brain imaging techniques to study the mind. His goal: to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October. 

A Swedish-led research team at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital has shown in a new randomized clinical trial that a low dose of the well-known medicine aspirin halves the risk of recurrence after surgery in patients with colon and rectal cancer with a certain type of genetic alteration in the tumor.

Musical people find it easier to focus their attention on the right sounds in noisy environments. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Science Advances. The results suggest that music training can be used to sharpen attention and cognition.

The prestigious European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) Tripartite Congress, held in Paris from September 10–12, recognized Professor Anna Martling with the Best Scientific Paper Award.

The decision to have a child or not should belong to individuals, not to pollution in their environment, argues Pauliina Damdimopoulou, who studies how the chemicals in our environment affect the ovaries and the egg cells they contain. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

The NeurotechEU is gearing up for its annual hackathon!

Over 1,300 women are still dying of breast cancer in Sweden every year. Theodoros Foukakis is trying to understand the tumour properties that determine the success of a particular treatment in order to achieve greater therapeutic precision. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Nature Communications, reveals that cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) promote DNA replication licensing in human cells by relieving inhibitory signals from RB tumor suppressor proteins. The findings add a new layer to our understanding of how cancer drugs work and may lead to better targeted cancer therapies in the future.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Uppsala University and Northwestern University have identified a new way to protect the kidney’s blood vessels and reduce tissue damage in chronic kidney disease. The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

On September 2, we held a kick-off for the Doctoral School in Health Sciences (FiH) with 14 doctoral students, including eight from NVS and the rest from six other departments.

Flavoured drinks without sugar can be perceived as sweet – and now researchers know why. A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal Nature Communications, reveals that the brain interprets certain aromas as taste.

Among young people, the use of sleep medication has increased sharply – despite ongoing questions about the drugs’ effectiveness and long-term impact. Researchers now recommend psychological treatment instead.

Heart muscle injury during major surgery and intensive care is common. Michelle Chew studies which patients are at risk and how these injuries can be prevented and treated. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

When Per Uhlén was fourteen, he ended up in a wheelchair. Since then, he has become a professor, started three companies, and competed in two Paralympic Games. “Sometimes I feel like my life is a film,” he says.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet challenges previous findings that suggested early surgery is more beneficial in the long term than medical treatment for patients with Crohn’s disease. The study replicates a Danish registry study using Swedish data and finds that the results are not comparable. The study was published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Restaurant Jöns Jacob will be closed for renovations during the autumn semester of 2025. During this period, the microwave area (Mikrotorget) has been temporarily relocated to the entrance hall of the BZ building at Berzelius väg 3, in the former premises of the Medical Bookstore.

A majority of individuals with psychotic disorders who died by suicide in Stockholm County in 2015 had extensive contact with healthcare services and expressed psychosocial difficulties shortly before their deaths. This is revealed in a medical record review study conducted by Region Stockholm and Karolinska Institutet.

It is the spread of tumours, metastases, which is the usual cause of cancer-related death. Jonas Fuxe researchers the mechanisms driving this process, with a focus on how cancer cells interact with their surroundings and mutate in order to take new paths. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

Marcus Skribek, postdoc at the Department of Oncology-Pathology and clinical oncologist at Karolinska University Hospital, has been awarded the 2024 Dan Grandér Research Prize for his thesis “Strategies for Optimizing Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer”. The prize is presented annually to the best doctoral thesis in cancer research at Karolinska Institutet.

Thirty Nordic ageing and health researchers will gather in Stockholm on 11–12 September 2025 for the SIA joint senior and junior workshop. Hosted by the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet, this event brings together established and early-career experts to foster discussion and collaboration on social inequalities in ageing.

Once again, the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet (KI) will host the course titled "Societal and Life-course Perspectives on Inequalities in Aging" this fall semester. The course is arranged in partnership with the Swedish National Graduate School on Ageing and Health (SWEAH, Lund University) and brings together students from various universities throughout Sweden.

Attacks on healthcare are dramatically increasing in conflicts and wars around the world. The Centre for Health Crises continues to highlight this development. On 9 September, KI researchers Märit Halmin and Johan von Schreeb, together with representatives from Médecins Sans Frontières, the Swedish Medical Association, and the Swedish Association of Health Professionals, participated in a meeting at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to urge Sweden to take clear international responsibility.

Pontus Nauclér is hoping to improve the treatment of severe infections while reducing the development of antibiotic resistance by combining data from registries and medical records with AI and clinical studies to make antibiotic treatments more precise. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

Karolinska Institutet's record-breaking international recruitment of 20 assistant professors focused on excellence has been a great success. With over 2,700 applications from 1,560 researchers in 89 countries, the initiative has had an impact that strengthens KI's position as one of Europe's most attractive medical universities.