News archive

The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund (Barncancerfonden) has decided to grant funding for paediatric oncology research over the next one to six years. Diagnoses in focus include brain tumours and leukaemia, the most common childhood cancer diagnoses. Together, 29 researchers will share SEK 64 million. Seven of these researchers work at KI.

Despite the widespread use of pain rating scales in neonatal care worldwide, a new Cochrane review shows that current tools for assessing pain in newborns are based on very low quality evidence. According to the review, none of the pain rating scales in use today are methodologically reliable enough to measure pain.

Daniel Helldén, researcher at the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet, is on the Forbes' 30 under 30 Europe 2025 list in the Science & Healthcare category.

From April 15.00 April 17, to April 21, the KI Housing office will be closed for the celebration of the Easter holidays.

On 26–27 March, Sweden hosted its first national meeting on extracellular vesicles (EVs) in Stockholm supported by KI Network and Conference Funding. The event gathered 171 researchers, young scientists, and industry experts from across the country — and beyond — to share the latest discoveries in this fast-growing field.

The government is funding Genomic Medicine Sweden (GMS) with SEK 80 million in 2025. The special support will be used, among other things, for continued investments in the sustainable development and implementation of precision medicine in cancer care. Richard Rosenquist Brandell, professor at KI and director of GMS, describes the initiative as an important investment in the future of healthcare.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has decided to allocate 4.9 million SEK to the innovation project BrAInChild, as part of the larger initiative within Genomic Medicine Sweden (GMS). BrAInChild aims to develop and implement advanced precision diagnostics for children with cancer, potentially leading to more individualized and effective treatments.

The Workshop on Genome Editing Tool Developments and Clinical Applications (#HKCRISPR25) was successfully held at the Hong Kong Science Park in April 2025.

People with a certain heart valve abnormality are at increased risk of severe heart rhythm disorders, even after successful valve surgery. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden published in the European Heart Journal. The condition is more common in women and younger patients with valve disorder and can, in the worst case, lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Lindsay Davies, an researcher at Karolinska Institutet, has been elected Incoming Vice Chair for Europe within the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT), a global organization that brings together scientists, clinicians, regulators, and industry partners in the rapidly growing field of advanced therapies.

In a recently published article in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet present results indicating that repeated treatment with piperaquine, an antimalarial drug, can lead to parasites developing decreased sensitivity to this drug. These findings may impact the use of piperaquine in the future.

International experts highlight the research of Jon Lundberg, Eddie Weizberg, Mattias Carlström and their colleagues on nitrate and nitric oxide (NO) as particularly important when evaluating research at Swedish universities.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows how a small antibody fragment can block fertilisation by targeting a key protein on the surface of the egg. This discovery brings a non-hormonal contraceptive one step closer to reality. The study has been published in the journal PNAS.

On March 1st, Kristina Aspvall took over as the new Director of Research school for clinicians in psychiatry.

The 5th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Endocrine and Neuroendocrine Tumors has now been officially published in print. This highly anticipated reference work is widely regarded as the global gold standard for tumor diagnosis, offering a comprehensive synthesis of traditional histopathology with cutting-edge digital and molecular pathology.

Peter Strang, professor emeritus of palliative medicine at the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet, has been ranked as number 19 in his research field by Scholar GPS 2024. Scholar GPS is a global platform that analyzes and ranks researchers based on their academic productivity, impact, and quality.

A new study in Life Science Alliance reveals a key genetic connection between cancer susceptibility and tissue regeneration. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet identified a super-enhancer region upstream of the MYC gene essential for tumor development and tissue repair.

The Andersson Lab at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet has been awarded a grant of DKK 3,990,001 over three years by the LEO Foundation for their project, “Unraveling Skin Origins: Developing In Utero Gene Manipulation Tools to Decipher Ectoderm and Mesoderm Contributions to Skin Health and Disease.”

Older individuals who struggle to chew hard food have a higher risk of becoming malnourished or experiencing significant weight loss over time. This is shown in a new Swedish population-based study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, who followed more than 1,500 individuals for over six years. The study is published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging.

Dr. Karolina Borankova, a member of Professor Nils-Göran Larsson's group at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship from Cancerfonden. The project aims to investigate whether mitochondrial DNA mutations that affect mitochondrial function, impact lung cancer growth and tumor burden.

The Swedish Research Council has published its report "Quality and impact of research in basic medicine in Sweden", which evaluates the scientific quality and societal impact of medical research at seven universities. Karolinska Institutet is a leader among Swedish higher education institutions.

A four-year grant from the Bergling Foundation will provide support to Karolinska Institutet’s digital training initiative to help medical students be better at identifying and responding to suicidal children and young adults. The aim of the project is to give prospective doctors the tools they need to deal with young people in the risk zone.

The Swedish National Patient Register (NPR) has long been a cornerstone for epidemiological research. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have published a new review examining the validity of the register and found that it is good for most diagnoses and very good for surgical procedures.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified the guinea pig as a promising model for studying the early development of human embryos. A new study shows that guinea pig embryos share many important characteristics with human embryos, which could open up new research opportunities in fertility and stem cell biology.

A new study from the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet reveals that days with both high air pollution and extreme heat substantially raise the risk of death in Indian cities more than either factor alone.

In 2025, five Wallenberg Clinical Scholars have been granted an extended grant for another five years. Among these is KI researcher Olle Kämpe, who will thus receive support for a total of ten years for his research into the causes of autoimmune diseases.

A groundbreaking national initiative, Precision Omics Initiative Sweden (PROMISE), aims to connect research with healthcare and establish Sweden as a world leader in data-driven precision medicine. The vision was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a method that shows how the nervous system and sensory organs are formed in an embryo. By labelling stem cells with a genetic ‘barcode’, they have been able to follow the cells’ developmental journey and discover how the inner ear is formed in mice. The discovery, published in Science, could provide important insights for future treatment of hearing loss.

Young people with high screen time develop poorer sleep habits, which in turn can lead to increased levels of depression – especially among girls. This is shown in a study from Karolinska Institutet published in PLOS Global Public Health.

We are proud to announce that Natalia Hernandez-Pacheco, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Clinical Research and Education, Södersjukhuset, has been awarded the Klosterfrau Group Award for Research of Airway Diseases in Childhood 2025.

The European Renal Association (ERA) just announced that Dr. Anne-Laure Faucon will receive the “ERAC Award for Young Investigators – Young Nephrologist”. The prize is awarded to a young nephrologist/researcher who has made a scientific contribution in the field of nephrology.

The Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF) provides financial support to promising researchers in medicine who are at the beginning of their careers and supports both basic and applied research. Silvia Angori receives 3 million SEK distributed over three years for her project titled "Uncovering the role of SAMHD1 in tumor suppression and therapy resistance in cutaneous melanoma."

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have demonstrated how specific biomarkers in the blood can predict the development of dementia up to ten years before diagnosis, among older adults living independently in the community.

Applications to universities and colleges are now open, and KI welcomed prospective students to the Open Day at KI Campus Flemingsberg on March 26. There was great interest and many questions as visitors from Sweden and Europe learned more about their dream programmes.

Ebba Rehfeldt graduated from the midwifery program at Karolinska Institutet (KI) in January 2025. She has since moved from Stockholm to southern Sweden and started working as a midwife in a delivery ward.

Federico Triolo has received a postdoctoral grant from the Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF), a non-profit organisation that has supported medical research since 1919. The purpose of the grant is to help early-career researchers to build their independence and develop their own line of research. The grant amounts to 3,950,000 SEK over three years, including a two-year research stay abroad, followed by one year back in Sweden.

Research from the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet shows that air pollution and traffic noise together may pose a greater risk for stroke than either factor alone. The researchers found that even at low levels – below the EU’s air quality standards and around WHO noise recommendation levels – the risk of stroke increased significantly.

Congratulations Mikael Rydén, who has been granted an extension as a Wallenberg Clinical Scholar. The extension entails SEK 3 million per year for five years.

On 3 April, Formas will be bringing together experts and researchers for a breakfast seminar titled 'Research across borders - what is needed in turbulent times?' (in Swedish). The Centre for Health Crises will be one of the speakers.

This week, the third edition of the book “To start a research career within medicine and health” ("Att börja forska inom medicin och hälsa") is released. Author is Jonas F Ludvigsson, pediatrician and professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the book is aimed at doctoral students and prospective researchers in medicine and health.

Inga Rødahl from the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) at the Departmet of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) is defending her thesis titled "Features of innate lymphoid cells in human fetal tissues and adult respiratory infection", on 4 April, 2025. Main supervisor is Jakob Michaëlsson (MedH).

Researchers at Swedish institutions, including Karolinska Institutet, have identified gene variants that increase the risk of atherosclerosis. The goal is for these new findings to enable earlier detection of atherosclerosis and improved treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke. The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

A recent study by KI-researchers Nadia Davoody and Sravya Katta reveals significant gaps related to healthcare professionals' awareness of gender diversity, proper communication strategies, the specific needs of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex (TNBI) individuals, and the societal and structural challenges they face.

In a new study, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have shown that so-called interval cancers, which are detected between two screening sessions, account for a significant proportion of breast cancer cases and that certain risk factors may increase the likelihood of developing this type of cancer. The study was published in the journal JAMA Oncology.

A team of researchers at Karolinska Institutet has developed a novel tool for genetic research. The study, published in Nucleic Acids Research, introduces BLU-VIPR, a method that allows researchers to control the gene-editing tool CRISPR using light. This innovation could significantly enhance our understanding of gene functions in complex organisms.

Early diagnosis of COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, increases the quality of life of the patient and the efficacy of available treatments. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now shown that material from nasal lavage provides a basis for assessing COPD. The study, which has been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, could lead to a simple diagnostic method for early assessment of COPD.

Certain widely used drug combinations may either slow down or worsen the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, but their effects differ between sexes. A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the leading journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, highlights these important findings.

Viktor H. Ahlqvist, postdoc at the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), receives 3,000,000 SEK in a Postdoctoral Grant from the Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF) for the project “Advancing cardiovascular drug safety in pregnancy through cutting-edge computational statistics, causal inference, and drug-target genomics (DRUG-SAFE).

In a study published in Nature, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab, among others, have identified a new mechanism for how cells deal with stress. This could have implications for treating certain hereditary, neurodegenerative diseases, but may also be relevant for future cancer treatment.

Helene Lindfors, PhD student at the Endocrine Surgery research group, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend her thesis "Tumor burden, thyroglobulin and Ki-67 as prognostic indicators in papillary thyroid cancer" on April 2025.
Main supervisor is Ivan Shabo.