News archive

From January 1st, 2023, KI Housing will become part of Karolinska Institutet instead of being an independent company.

The Cancer and Allergy Fund has awarded a grant of SEK 4.2 million to 23 patient-end projects on cancer and allergies. Of these, fifteen researchers at nine departments at Karolinska Institutet are to share SEK 2.5 million.

In its recent call, the Swedish Research Council has awarded in excess of SEK 19 million for six projects at KI. The project receiving the largest grant aims to study the long-term impact of the pandemic on the lifestyle and health of young adults.

Cluster headache, or Horton’s syndrome, is so painful that it is sometimes referred to as “suicide headache”. Thanks to a donation of SEK 35 million from financier and philanthropist Rune Andersson, research group leader Andrea Carmine Belin will very soon be setting up the world’s first research centre specialising exclusively in cluster headaches.

We congratulate Natalie Glaser and Ulrik Sartipy at the Thoracic Surgery group, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, who receive research grants from the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation.

Associate Professor Volker Lauschke at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology (FyFa) receives a Consolidator grant of up to 1.2 million SEK per year over five years.

A new collaborative study from Karolinska Institutet, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), and Czech Technical University suggests a novel imaging marker of brain connectivity might be a very early indicator of pathological changes in Alzheimer’s disease. This imaging marker could be capable of detecting alterations when formal neuropsychological tests and even standard clinical image-based markers fail.

The nanomaterial graphene oxide—which is used in everything from electronics to sensors for biomolecules—can indirectly affect the immune system via the gut microbiome, as shown in a new study on zebrafish by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The findings are reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Problems with managing anger can have severe consequences for the afflicted individual and their loved ones. A new study from the Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet shows that four weeks of therapy delivered over the internet can help people with anger and aggression. The results have been published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

When Svante Pääbo talked about the importance of Neanderthals, the audience in Aula Medica listened carefully. The Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine explained, among other things, that we carry their genes and that they may have been more sensitive than we think.

Prof. emeritus Rudolf “Rulle” Rigler, an excellent scientist in medical physics and long time member of the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics passed away on October 5, 86 years old.

The autumn semester of 2022 saw a new cohort of students arriving at KI to study the part of the Erasmus Mundus Master’s programme Public Health in Disasters, which is conducted by the Centre for Research on Health Care in Disasters. One of the students who came to Stockholm is Bahaa, who is really enjoying his time at KI and in Stockholm.

In this year's announcement of project grants from Radiumhemmets Forskningsfonder, OnkPat received a total of 33 million SEK. 32 researchers were granted funding.

We warmly welcome Professor Marcus Carlsson to the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery. Marcus Carlsson was appointed Professor of Clinical Physiology on November 7, 2022 and he combines the professorship with a position as senior consultant at the Department of Clinical Physiology, Karolinska University Hospital. Marcus Carlsson was nominated to KI from the National Institutes of Health, USA, where he led the research group "Clinical Physiology".

Debora Rizzuto, principal researcher and research group leader at the Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet, has received a project grant for a project entitled "SoundMIND – effects of noise on cognition and mental health", from Forte.

Losing too much weight when infected with COVID-19 has been linked to worse outcomes. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that SARS-CoV-2 infection fuels blood vessel formation in fat tissues, thus revving up the body’s thermogenic metabolism. Blocking this process by using an existing drug curbed weight loss in mice and hamsters that were infected with the virus, according to the study published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

The risk of complications in assisted reproduction is higher when two embryos are transferred, instead of one embryo. This has been shown in a study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, which included all births in Sweden 2007-2017.

Meet Maria Bradley, research group leader at the Division of Dermatology and Venereology at the Department of Medicine, Solna.

Antiviral drugs almost completely reduce the risk of mothers passing on HIV infection to their children, even in a low-income country with a high HIV incidence such as Tanzania, according to a new study in The Lancet HIV by researchers from Karolinska Institutet. The discovery raises hopes of achieving the World Health Organization’s goal of eliminating the spread of infection from mother to child.

Publication in PloS ONE about tobacco cessation by Tanja Tomson et al., Prevention-Policy and Practice at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME) coincides with Tobacco free week.

Linus Jönsson, affiliated researcher at NVS, Division of Neurogeriatrics, receives EUR 11 million in EU funding for his project "PROMINENT - Precision Medicine in Neurodegeneration". Of this grant, EUR 1.8 million go to KI.

Svante Pääbo hasn’t even collected his 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine yet. Still, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology is already dreaming of making new ground-breaking discoveries.

Breathing in common workplace dust and fumes may increase the risk of developing severe rheumatoid arthritis, especially in combination with smoking and genetic susceptibility to the disease, suggests a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

When cancer is detected at an early stage, the rates of survival increase drastically, but today only a few cancer types are screened for. An international study led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and affiliated with Karolinska Institutet shows that a new, previously untested method can find multiple types of newly formed cancers at the same time – including cancer types that are difficult to detect with comparable methods. The results are published in the journal PNAS.

The Covid pandemic was the starting point for this year’s Stockholm Life Science Conference - Life Science 2.0 where discussions centred on both the mistakes made and lessons learned from the handling of the pandemic and the rapid development of vaccines.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.