News archive

Today marks World Suicide Prevention Day, an annual event since 2003 aimed at raising awareness about suicide and promoting prevention efforts. Initiated by the WHO and the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), the day encourages global dialogue and action to reduce stigma and support mental health.

The stage in Erling Persson Hall was brightly decorated with balloons and flowers as around 400 master’s students gathered to take part in the ceremony on 29 August. Hosts Gottfrid Rehnman and Gabriela Kazmierczak guided the audience through the programme with warmth, humour, and anecdotes from their own time as KI students.

Ronny Wickström researches autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in the child brain. At present his focus is on prolonged cases of status epilepticus, a life-threatening condition that does not respond to epilepsy medicine. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

It is not only premature babies and children with underlying diseases who suffer from serious respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. Even healthy, full-term babies are at significant risk of intensive care or prolonged hospitalisation – especially during the first three months of life. This is according to a comprehensive registry study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.

The Nordic Health Crises University Network (HealthCrisNet) gathered for its first-ever meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland, from 27–29 August 2025. Established earlier this year with funding from NordForsk, the network brings together universities from across the Nordic region to strengthen preparedness and resilience in the face of health crises.

Every year, approximately 2,500 patients in Sweden suffer a cardiac arrest at a hospital, from which only one in every three survive. Therese Djärv wants to unpack why these events occur and how they can be prevented. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

Xinxin Luo, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medicine, Solna, has been awarded the Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize 2025. The prize of USD 10,000 is intended for recent PhD graduates or doctoral students in their final year of doctoral studies. The aim is to encourage young, promising researchers. Xinxin Luo is recognised for her research on how inflammation, tissue damage and healing processes interact in the intestine.

On September 2, 2025, seven physicians, five occupational therapists, and five physiotherapists were awarded diplomas by H.M. The Queen during a formal ceremony at Drottningholm Court Theatre. The ceremony marked the completion of the Master's courses in dementia care developed by Karolinska Institutet in close collaboration with Stiftelsen Silviahemmet. The participants may now use the titles Silvia Physician, Silvia Occupational Therapist, and Silvia Physiotherapist.

Chronic pain in the jaws and face affects people of all ages and can severely impair their quality of life, work capacity and mental health. Nikolaos Christidis is looking for answers as to what causes the pain and ways to help improve treatments. 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 from across the Asia-Pacific region met in Jinan, China, on 7–8 June 2025 at the World-Wide FINGERS Network meeting, to share new ideas on how to help prevent dementia and memory loss. Over 50 researchers and students from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Sweden, and China took part in the event.

Untreated atrial fibrillation increases the risk of serious complications such as stroke, heart failure and dementia. Johan Engdahl is researching how doctors can be better at detecting atrial fibrillation so that patients can be treated in time. 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 Karolinska ATMP Center — a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet (KI) and Karolinska University Hospital — and St. Erik Eye Hospital have signed a letter of intent to strengthen their partnership in research, development, and clinical trials of cell- and gene-based medicines, known as Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs). The goal is to accelerate the transition from research to clinical application, particularly for retinal diseases that currently lack effective treatments.

Marianne van Hage, professor at Karolinska Institutet, has received Europe’s most prestigious research award in allergy – the Paul Ehrlich Prize. She is the first Swede ever to receive the award, thanks to her groundbreaking research in molecular allergology and on the tick-induced food allergy, the alpha-Gal syndrome.

Erik Benson and Arvid Guterstam, both assistant professors at Karolinska Institutet, have been awarded the prestigious ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council. With the grant, they will have the opportunity to realise groundbreaking research projects in DNA nanotechnology for improved drug delivery, and the brain's social functions that may be of great importance for future diagnosis and understanding of autism.

Ill-health linked to sedentary lifestyles and poor diets is a growing problem. Ylva Trolle Lagerros develops apps designed to help people make more healthy everyday life choices. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

Young people have a nuanced view of how their digital lives affect their mental health and want more support and involvement from the adults around them. This is shown in an international study published in The Journal of Adolescent Health by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with UNICEF.

Voice problems are common among teachers and others who use their voice extensively in their work. A new research project, funded by FORTE, will develop methods to prevent these problems and strengthen working capacity.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found that individuals with cluster headache have symptoms of insomnia and poor sleep quality in an active headache period, and sleep is not restored during headache-free periods. The results were recently published in Headache: the Journal of Head and Face Pain.

A new thesis from Karolinska Institutet focuses on advanced statistical methods to better predict long-term patient outcomes, supporting healthcare decision-making. The application focused on chronic myeloid leukemia with the goal to inform clinical and policy insights.

Schizophrenia is a disease that causes great suffering, but today’s methods of treatment are inadequate in dealing with it. Jens Hjerling-Leffler studies what happens in the brain during the phase of life in which the disease often debuts in the hope of promoting the development of more effective drugs. 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 is recruiting 20 Assistant Professors with a focus on excellence and mobility. As one of the world’s leading medical universities, KI offers fully developed research infrastructure, exchanges with other pre-eminent researchers, secure financing for pioneering research and support to make sure accompanying family members also feel at home.

She suffered from recurring fractures. But today, Vera Berg leads an active life thanks to medication for osteoporosis

Regular exercise, balance training and a healthy, varied diet can reduce the risk of developing osteoporosis.

Can osteoporosis be detected in images taken for purposes other than fractures? According to radiologist Torkel Brismar, the answer is yes. He has explored this question in several studies.

A common yet seriously undertreated condition, osteoporosis, is a widespread condition where the healthcare system often falls short. Researchers are now investigating why so many patients slip through the cracks and miss out on treatment that could prevent further serious fractures. The long-term goal is to offer treatment even before the first fracture occurs.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a vulnerability in certain blood cancer cells that makes it possible to eliminate the cancer cells with a drug, without harming healthy cells. The study is published in the scientific journal Leukemia.

Visual disorders following acquired brain injury are common and affect a person’s everyday activities and quality of life. Tony Pansell is exploring how vision can be improved again – with the help of visual rehabilitation. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

From the spring semester of 2026, Karolinska Institutet will offer a new commissioned education course in gynaecology for nurses.

When older people have more than one chronic disease at the same time, this is called multimorbidity – a rapidly growing challenge for the healthcare sector as the population ages. In spite of this, multimorbidity has long been ignored in global public health research. A new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) now turns the spotlight on the problem.

We are delighted to share some of the many important reflections from the NKG2024 congress held in Stockholm in June 2024, in the form of a newly published perspective paper entitled "Ageing in a Transforming World: Insights for Future Research and Policy from the 27th Nordic Congress of Gerontology".

Dual antiplatelet therapy after cardiac bypass surgery is no more effective than acetylsalicylic acid alone and also increases the risk of serious bleeding. This is shown in a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Gothenburg published in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine.

In a pilot project within the course Biomedical Communication, students have tackled the complex issue of antibiotic resistance (AMR) through gamification. When the AMR Knowledge Space Game was integrated into the curriculum, the response from both teachers and students was overwhelmingly positive. With the success of the pilot, the interactive game may become part of future courses and educational research at Karolinska Institutet (KI).

We are proud to welcome Professor Stefano Guerra to KI SÖS during the upcoming semester. Stefano joins us on a Fulbright scholarship, and we are excited to host him and benefit from his expertise during his time here.

Palliative medicine is a young field of research, and there are few well-made clinical studies. Linda Björkhem-Bergman hopes to answer such questions as how vitamin D affects the patients’ immune system and symptoms. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

Not all acute myocardial infarction patients should be offered routine screening for the stomach ulcer bacterium Helicobacter pylori. However, it is possible that some patient groups with an elevated risk of post-infarction gastrointestinal bleeding benefit from such a test, concludes a large-scale study from Karolinska Institutet and Södersjukhuset published in the journal JAMA.

The Aging Research Center (ARC) had the privilege of hosting a symposium that brought together leading scholars to celebrate the remarkable contributions of Professor Johan Fritzell to research on social policy, inequalities, and health over the course of his career.

Fatty liver results from overweight and obesity and it is a common disease leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Stefano Romeo is investigating the genetic basis of the diseases to identify novel 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.

Hanna Steurer, researcher at the Division of Speech and Language Pathology, has been awarded the Elsa and Inge Andersson Prize 2025 for the best thesis on Parkinson's disease.

We congratulate Buse Yel Bektash, PhD student at the Translational Psychiatry research group, who receives the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Excellence Award 2025.

We still don’t know which treatment works best for children with cleft lip, jaw and palate. Agneta Karsten studies how different surgical techniques and orthodontic treatments affects teeth, occlusion and facial growth – and when in life treatment should be carried out. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October. 

KI is investing SEK 50 million in research into osteoporosis for better diagnostics, treatment and prevention. The large investment is made possible by a generous donation from Ebbe and Lena Krook. Part of the donation will finance a new endowment professorship at KI in the subject.

New research from Karolinska Institutet, published in Cell Reports Medicine, reveals that mantle cell lymphoma is more diverse than previously thought, highlighting the need for personalized therapies.

During the first week of October, Karolinska Institutet, together with the Nobel Prize Museum, invites you to inspiring events open to the public. Listen to a conversation about what 50 years of free abortion rights have meant for women's health, learn more about how the development of genetic engineering has affected us, or explore current research on water.

NextGenNK Director Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren presented on NK cell–based immunotherapies during the inauguration of the Karolinska ATMP Center on August 25, 2025, sharing experiences from past and upcoming clinical studies.

We congratulate Caroline Nordenvall, Docent and Lecturer in surgery, who was awarded the Major Research Award during the Surgeons' Week in Linköping 2025.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and SciLifeLab have developed a new method for detecting early signs that the disease type 1 diabetes is going to develop. The study, conducted in an experimental model, shows that analysing tiny amounts of blood can reveal disease-causing changes in the body, thereby enabling early treatment and disease prevention. The results have been published in the journal Diabetologia.

At the Teaching and Learning Unit, several educational developers work in different areas to support teachers and supervisors in their teaching. One of them is Helena Brodin, who contributes to creating the conditions for high-quality supervision of students who are doing work-based practice in healthcare.

A large international study led by researchers at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, shows that major depressive disorder (MDD) not only increases risk for a wide range of diseases and social problems, but is also partly driven by factors such as loneliness, obesity, smoking, and chronic pain.

Professor emeritus Peter Strang of Karolinska Institutet has been awarded the Swedish Government’s medal “Illis quorum meruere labores”. The Latin name of the medal means 'To those whose labors have deserved it'. He receives the award for his outstanding contributions and long-standing research in palliative medicine, particularly for highlighting the importance of existential perspectives in end-of-life care.

People with metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The findings, published in the journal Neurology, highlight the importance of early detection and treatment of metabolic risk factors.