News archive

In January 2024, a delegation from the Institute for Quantitative Biosciences at the University of Tokyo had the privilege of visiting Karolinska Institutet. During this short but invaluable experience, they engaged with the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology's administrative staff, gaining insights into the administrative procedures and organizational structure.

With the progress in treatment for most cancer types, there is a growing interest to understand the overall impact of a cancer diagnosis throughout the remaining lifespan. In addition to conventional survival probabilities, estimating Life Expectancy following cancer diagnosis and Loss in Life Expectancy for cancer patients in comparison to if they did not have cancer provides valuable insights into the societal burden of cancer.

Follow-up and treatment of children with cancer is significantly improved when inherited genetic causes are also investigated, according to a new Swedish study. The results of the research study involving some 50 researchers and clinicians from across Sweden have been published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.

The guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy in obese women have long been questioned. New research from Karolinska Institutet supports the idea of lowering or removing the current recommendation of a weight gain of at least 5 kg. The results are published in The Lancet.

Type 1 diabetes, a chronic condition affecting millions of young individuals globally, is not exclusive to childhood. As much as half of all cases are diagnosed during adulthood, and there is a need to understand factors contributing to the development of type 1 diabetes in adults. A new study at Karolinska Institutet now provides new insights into the development of the disease in adults. The results are presented in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) have a higher risk of perinatal depression. Conversely, women with perinatal depression have a higher risk of developing premenstrual disorders. This is shown in a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal PLOS Medicine.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with JLP Health and others, have identified how the tick-borne Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells. The results are published in Nature Microbiology and are an important step in the development of drugs against the deadly disease.

Karolinska Institutet and Makerere University in Uganda have been working together for over 20 years. In 2021 they established a Centre based on their strong partnership to bring people together, recognize their health challenges and mobilize actions towards well-being. Today the Centre provides tools, resources and training programs for researchers, students, professionals and policy makers globally.

Ki researcher Daniel Berglind received 6 million SEK from Formas for a project to reconstruct schoolyards with greenery for a better environment and more physically active children in urban areas.

Tigist Dires Gebreyesus is an Ethiopian public health specialist with a master’s in public health from University of Gondar, Ethiopia. She has been working within the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority, the former Ethiopian Food, Medicine and Healthcare Administration and Control Authority. In December 2023, Dr Gebreyesus defended her doctoral thesis that was part of the PROFORMA project at Karolinska Institutet, Department of Global Public Health.

The 2024 Svedberg Prize is awarded to Björn Reinius, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institutet, for his discoveries regarding the gene regulation mechanisms of the X chromosome and his substantial impact on COVID-19 clinical diagnostics.

The Wallenberg Scholars program aims to provide leading researchers in Sweden with grants for free research. Following a comprehensive international peer review, the Foundation has chosen to fund 118 researchers for five years, providing up to SEK 18 million each for researchers in theoretical subjects and up to SEK 20 million each for researchers in experimental subjects. Of the 29 medical researchers awarded this year's Scholar grants, 19 are active at Karolinska Institutet.

Catherine J. Wu, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, USA, is a pioneer in research that may result in the development of personalised vaccines to treat cancer. She is now awarded the Sjöberg Prize, worth one million US dollars, for her work. Catherine J. Wu will give a lecture in Aula Medica at KI on April 12 in connection with the Karolinska CCC Day.

Minister for Health Care Acko Ankarberg Johansson and Minister for Older People and Social Security Anna Tenje recently visited BioClinicum at Karolinska Institutet to learn more about the current status of Alzheimer’s research. "We’re getting closer to being able to devise an effective treatment," says Bengt Winblad, professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, who hosted the visit.

In a new study, Patricia Eustachio Colombo and her colleagues have developed suggestions for healthy and climate-friendly dietary patterns. Now it's just a matter of getting us to adopt them.

Caroline Ingre receives a Royal grant

Ullakarin Nyberg is a researcher at the Center for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet. She also works clinically as a psychiatrist, part of the time at a unit for breast cancer patients. At the end of 2018, she contracted the disease herself.

Anna Sylvan was diagnosed with breast cancer in the autumn of 2021. Three tumours were treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and anti-hormones. In this interview she talks about her experience.

Can breast cancer patients who exercise get better results from their chemotherapy? And if so, should they receive treatment that includes exercise? This will be investigated in an international study led by researcher Jana de Boniface.

It is difficult to draw firm conclusions about how to eat and drink to avoid breast cancer. Dietary studies often rely on self-reporting, while dietary habits change over the course of a lifetime - both of which are complicated for researchers. But one link is well documented: even moderate alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing the disease, says Professor Alicja Wolk.

There is a lot going on in breast cancer research. A new AI tool is trying to fine-tune the screening program, another is helping pathologists make diagnoses, and new drugs are being tested and approved. This could save more lives. But there is still no answer to the trickiest question of all: Why does breast cancer occur?

KI will be expanding the Master's Programme in Global Health from a one-year programme to a two-year master's programme. KI has been offering the master's program in global health since 2012. In the fall semester of 2025, the first batch of students will begin the first round of the two-year master's program.

The Swedish government has appointed an advisory group in the field of life science. The group includes experts from academia, industry and healthcare. KI's President Annika Östman Wernerson is one of the members of the group, whose purpose, among other things, is to contribute to the implementation of the national strategy for life science.

From 12.00 March 28 to April 1, the KI Housing office will be closed for the celebration of the Easter holidays.

Professor Paul Dickman at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet is awarded the prize Statistical Promotor of the year from the Swedish Statistical Society (Svenska statistikfrämjandet).

Using advanced methodology, scientists in Sweden were able to reveal at the cellular level how lesions in multiple sclerosis develop. The new results are presented in the journal Cell by researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University.

Individual patients with autoimmune diseases can receive tailored medication by computationally treating their so-called digital twins with thousands of medications. This is according to an international study published in Genome Medicine by researchers from Karolinska Institutet.

On April 1, 2024, KI will switch to digital degrees. This means that all degree certificate issued after April 1 will be digital and will no longer be printed on paper and sent by mail.

In a recently published review in the journal Biomarker Research, Joanna Zawacka, Docent at the department of Oncology-Pathology discusses our current understanding of p53 biology in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet, AstraZeneca, Würzburg University, Science for Life Laboratories and Uppsala University have found that oxidative stress in heart failure varies depending on sex, with female mouse hearts having stronger natural defenses against oxidative damage. The study could enable new approaches for precision medicine and may explain why previous attempts to use antioxidants for treating heart failure have not been so successful.

A mobile app that uses artificial intelligence, AI, to analyse images of suspected skin lesions can diagnose melanoma with very high precision. This is shown in a study led from Linköping University where the app has been tested in primary care. The results have been published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Interesting Swedish data, where the definition of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) differs from that used internationally, brings additional insights to on ongoing discussion in the scientific community. The study was presented at the 2023 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting and is now published in Lancet Regional Health- Europe.

The air quality in Swedish cities has improved continuously over the last twenty years, according to a research collaboration in which the Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet participates. Several thousand deaths may have been prevented every year, thanks to better air quality. However, many people are still exposed to air pollution that exceeds the World Health Organization’s recommendations.

Olof Akre, Professor at Karolinska Institutet and Head of Operations at the Department of Thematic Studies – Cancer, will be the new Director of Research, Education and Development (R&D) at Karolinska University Hospital. He succeeds Annika Tibell, who is retiring.

Sweden and the USA have previously enjoyed strong collaboration in the field of cancer care and research, and now it is further strengthened through a bilateral agreement. The purpose is to promote exchange between the two countries in both cancer research and the implementation of this research within cancer care, including both prevention and improved quality of life.

A comprehensive registry study from Karolinska Institutet shows that children of women who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) right before or during pregnancy are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD later in life. The study is published in the journal European Psychiatry.

On Thursday, 14 March, the fourth policy lab was arranged since the start in October 2023. The participants were invited to follow the journey of a Swedish Government Official Report and discuss when and how researchers can provide input in the most useful way. It was an educational session where everyone had the opportunity to share experiences, ask questions and benefit from expertise in the field, from both inside and outside KI.

The project "A Healthy School Start" is a family support program developed by the research group Community Nutrition and Physical Activity at the Department of Global Public Health, to offer an adapted approach for student health and teachers to provide support to families with children on healthy lifestyles. The program has been positively received by politicians in Region Stockholm, who have now allocated funds in the budget for further dissemination.

The 2023 AI Swede of the Year feels no need to be at the center of research. Yet that is exactly where he is. The orthopaedic surgeon and researcher Max Gordon was an early adopter of artificial intelligence. Now everyone else wants to know how to do it.

Improved glycemic control protects the oocytes, but not uterine environment in diabetes, according to researchers from Karolinska Institutet. Their findings based on studies of Swedish registry data, animal models and human samples, are now published in EMBO Reports as the cover story.

After the egg has been fertilized by a sperm, the surrounding egg coat tightens, mechanically preventing the entry of additional sperm and the ensuing death of the embryo. This is according to a new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in the journal Cell. The work also explains how mutations in egg coat proteins can cause female infertility and may eventually lead to new contraceptive methods.

The Strategic Research Area Neuroscience, StratNeuro, awards a total of 6,400,000 SEK to support new technologies and methods to study the nervous system.

The Strategic Research Area Neuroscience, StratNeuro, announces up to ten grants to support postdoctoral researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Last week, the University Management visited CNS as part of their tour to meet all of KI’s Departments.

The Swedish Kidney Foundation (Njurfonden) distributes more than SEK 7 million to research into kidney diseases. This is the largest sum since the fund was established and is awarded to 40 researchers, 19 of whom are active at Karolinska Institutet. The grants go to research related to chronic kidney disease, dialysis and transplantation.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Brain, reveals a connection between the protein DEK and early neuronal changes in Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that lower DEK levels in vulnerable neurons lead to altered neuronal activity and Tau protein accumulation, offering insights into early-stage Alzheimer’s pathology and potential therapeutic targets.

Konstantinos Meletis at Karolinska Institutet has been awarded a prize from the Arvid Carlsson Foundation for his outstanding work in neuropsychiatric diseases.

In recent years, the treatment landscape for solid tumors has undergone a notable change. With new cancer treatments, the future looks brighter for many young cancer patients, making fertility issues and future family planning an important aspect. Six specialists in oncology and onco-fertility at the Department of Oncology-Pathology join forces to compile knowledge and recommendations on this important issue.

Height and weight charts have been used for decades to monitor child development. A paper in The Lancet now presents a new application that enables healthcare professionals to keep a regular check on the development of one of the body’s most vital organs – the lungs. Lung Function Tracker is the product of an international collaboration involving researchers at KI, the University of Barcelona, Spain, the Imperial College London, the UK, and the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have shown a link between use of medication for ADHD and a reduced risk of premature death. The risk of death due to unnatural causes, such as accidents and overdoses, can be reduced by a quarter, according to the new study published in JAMA.