News archive

Congratulations to six researchers at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery who receives research grant from the Swedish Cancer Society in their latest call.

Jonna Bister from the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) is defending her thesis titled "Exploring Human Uterine Immune Cell Dynamics with a Focus on Natural Killer cells and MAIT cells", on 15 November, 2024. Main supervisor is Niklas Björkström (MedH).

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, scientists at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with Michigan State University, have introduced an innovative approach to improve plasma proteome profiling. The method enables the detection of low-abundance proteins in plasma.

Congratulations to Linda Björkhem-Bergman and Erland Axelsson for their respective research grants!

Researchers at the Department of Cell and Molacular Biology, Karolinska Institutet have made a major discovery in how human cells produce energy. Their study, published in the EMBO Journal, reveals the detailed mechanisms of how mitochondria process transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules, which are essential for energy production.

The Swedish government has presented an updated strategy for life science with the aim of making Sweden a leading nation in the field. Annika Östman Wernerson, President of KI, has been a member of the advisory group behind the strategy.

We congratulate the eight researchers at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge who have been awarded grants from the Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) for the period 2025-2029. Together, the MedH researchers are awarded grants of nearly SEK 30 million.

Through the research group Global Disaster Medicine - Health Needs and Responses, KI is one of three universities that are part of the Erasmus Mundus Master's programme Public Health in Disasters. The programme is a unique degree in public health in disasters, that provides students with both practical and theoretical knowledge of public health, health care in disasters and global health care and health systems.

As global populations age and the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disorders rises, understanding the complex relationships between body mass index (BMI), metabolic health, and aging becomes increasingly critical.

Congratulations to the 7 researchers at Department of Laboratory Medicine (Labmed) who received grants from Cancerfonden 2025-2029.

The first storm of the autumn lashed Stockholm City Hall, harassing the flames of the outdoor candles and braziers, as the guests arrived to witness 133 doctors and a record 35 jubilee doctors receive their accolades at the KI conferment ceremony. It was an evening of celebration and joy, an evening of fresh opportunities and memories of a long career. It was, in short, a magical evening for the 900 or so guests assembled in the Blue Hall.

Congratulations to our seven researchers at the Division of Neuro, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, who have been granted over 31 million SEK in project grants from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) in their call Medicine and Health, as well as International Collaborations in Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND), 2024.

On 5 November, a special annual ceremony was held in Aula Medica. Thirteen international master’s students from eleven different countries were honoured with Karolinska Institutet’s Global Master's Scholarship.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has decided on grant applications within Medicine and Health 2024. Researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics were granted over 50 Mkr together.

The Swedish Cancer Society has decided on the research grants for 2024. Researchers from the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet received a total of over 70 million SEK.

The Karolinska Institutet and Mayo Clinic are pleased to announce the availability of limited competitive funds for short-term travel by faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, students and/or trainees between the partner institutions to plan or conduct collaborative interactions.

Tahmina Akhter from the Biosciences and Nutrition Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, is defending her thesis titled "Classification of asthma with cross-cohort clinical data and with enhancer mediated gene regulation", on 15 November, 2024. Main supervisor is Carsten Daub (MedH).

Clinics and hospitals currently defer medication abortion until ultrasound confirms a pregnancy inside the uterus. However, a large international study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet now indicates that treatment can be equally effective and safe even before the sixth week of pregnancy. The study is published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Professor of developmental biology and former member of the Nobel Assembly Björn Vennström has passed away at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife Kristina, his children Karin and Anders and grandchildren.

Researchers from the Department of Women's and Children's Health received more than SEK 35 million when the Swedish Research Council decided on calls within Medicine and health in 2024.

Viktoria Hansson works at KI as a coordinator for students with disabilities . She is responsible for specialised study adaptations for KI students, known as pedagogical accommodations. We asked her a few common questions about this support.

Researchers, doctoral students and students gathered in Solna on 16–17 October to mark 30 years of fruitful collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Mayo Clinic at their annual joint conference. The extremely popular and much-appreciated research conference with 600 participants, including 100 from the Mayo Clinic, centred this year on AI and health data, a rapidly growing area that impacts profoundly on the future of healthcare.

Congratulations to the five researchers at GPH who have been awarded project grants from Forte and the Swedish Research Council in their 2024 call for Medicine and Health.

As part of the response to the escalating threat of a global dengue fever epidemic, a new interdisciplinary EU-funded research initiative has been established with KI as coordinator. The COMBAT project aims to develop solutions to manage and mitigate the dengue virus, which causes 100 million infections and 10,000 deaths annually in 141 countries. In addition to the human suffering, the virus causes an economic burden of over EUR 8 billion globally.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has decided on grant applications within Medicine and Health 2024. Researchers at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology were granted over 36 Mkr together.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the foundation Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. In this year's major round of research funding, the foundation's board of directors has decided to fund a total of 77 projects in the humanities and social sciences for a total of just over SEK 370 million. Five of these projects are run by researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Congratulations to Ida Nilsson and Richard Rosenquist Brandell who have been granted project grant from the Swedish Research Council in their call Medicine and Health 2024 and to Alexander Fyrdahl who has been granted establishment grant from the Swedish Research Council in their call Natural and Engineering Sciences 2024.

Using a new technique, long-read sequencing, that allows DNA to be analyzed in much greater detail than before, a team of Swedish clinicians and researchers has discovered an unexpected complexity in chromosomal abnormalities. The study opens the door to more precise and effective treatment of patients with rare diseases that currently lack clear diagnoses.

Supervisors Michael Ratz and Kristiina Tammimies share how their students’ participation in NeurotechEU brought back tangible benefits and some exciting new possibilities.

Congratulations to the six researchers at NVS who have been awarded project grants from the Swedish Research Council in their 2024 call for Medicine and Health.

A new collaborative study from Karolinska Institutet published in Science Advances shows that the levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) directly influence lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression in mice. LUAD is a common subgroup of human lung cancer that typically contains high levels of mtDNA. The link between high mtDNA levels and tumor progression suggests that mtDNA may provide a new therapeutic target and a biomarker for stratifying patients.

In the Swedish Research Council's latest call, SEK 96 000 000 was awarded to 13 researchers at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) for the years 2024-2029.

The National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention announces the first Swedish Suicide Research Conference (SSRC), set to unite experts in suicide research from across Sweden and abroad. This event, partly supported by a Forte grant, will take place in Stockholm in May 6–7, 2025.

In a recently published study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KI University Hospital show that radiotherapy (RT) creates an "epigenetic memory" in skin fibroblasts which impairs skin healing in cancer survivors. They also found that by targeting this memory with antibodies the damage could be reversed. This finding can lead to new therapies for both preventing and treating RT-induced skin issues.

Thuy Tran's research group at Karolinska Institutet has been awarded SEK 8 million over three years from the Erling-Persson Foundation to develop a precision-orientated, theranostic, method that integrates the diagnosis and treatment of advanced, solid tumours.

On 23 October, the Stockholm Trio University Alliance hosted a seminar at Karolinska Institutet on how interdisciplinary research and education can contribute to sustainable development. The seminar was organized by Stockholm Trio for Sustainable Actions, an initiative within the alliance that supports Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Stockholm University in their work to contribute to the UN's 17 global goals.

The Global Child Health and Sustainable Development Goals research group recently hosted a delegation of prominent guests from Shanghai, China, to exchange insights on health economics and childcare systems. Their visit aimed to deepen the understanding of the Swedish healthcare system, particularly in the context of children’s health.

Adrián Carballo Casla has recently been awarded a Forte Starting Grant 2024. His research project aims to tailor dietary recommendations to the unique needs of older adults, potentially leading to healthier and longer lives.

An abnormal BMI in children – be it high or low – can now be associated with impaired lung function, but if their BMI is normalised before they reach adulthood, the impairment can be offset, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report. Their results, which are based on data collected under the BAMSE project, are presented in The European Respiratory Journal.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that heart failure mortality has decreased in Sweden over the last 20 years. The study has been published in the European Journal of Heart Failure.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that global warming, combined with an aging population, could lead to a significant increase in people with severe electrolyte imbalances in the blood. The results are presented in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

The Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM) arranged a seminar during October’s Nobel Calling week for upper-secondary school science students. Over 800 participants from around the Stockholm region gathered in Aula Medica to hear the latest news and issues concerning young adults’ environments, lifestyles and future career choices with an overall focus on human health.

Are you a student in any of KI's educational programs and want to participate in a focus group interview to share your views on how KI can build student engagement and develop the study environment?

Karolinska Institutet celebrates a remarkable achievement as two students have been honoured in the prestigious thesis competition Global Undergraduate Awards (GUA) programme. Muriel, a first-semester biomedicine master’s student, and Sophia, a final-semester medical programme student, have both emerged victorious in their respective categories thanks to their theses.

Donders Institute at Radboud University is part of NeurotechEU and collaborates with Karolinska Institutet. Recently, they held an event where KI researcher Gilberto Fisone presented his research.

How can a sustainable working life be created for people with depression and fatigue syndrome? Ridwandul Amin is one of five researchers who have now received a research grant from Afa Försäkring to develop more knowledge about this.

In a recently published study, researchers at the Institute for Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet show that there are pronounced sex differences in the incidence rates of psychiatric disorders over the lifespan, which varied depending on age, type of psychiatric disorders, calendar period, and socioeconomic status.

Recent advancements in high-throughput sequencing technologies have enabled researchers to harness valuable omics data, paving the way for precision medicine. This approach aims to enhance diagnosis and treatment by tailoring therapies to individual patients, moving away from traditional, subjective methods. However, analyzing omics data for effective treatment personalization remains challenging due to disease variability and data complexity.

Region Stockholm and Region Uppsala have teamed up to further strengthen their joint life-science cluster. At a conference on 10 October, large sections of the life-science sector in Uppsala-Stockholm met to discuss how its development is to be effected.

Hi there Abigail Dove! You have recently defended your thesis entitled "Cardiometabolic disease and dementia risk: identifying compensatory factors". Could you tell us a little more?