News archive

On the 5th Wednesday after the start of each semester, Medicinska Föreningen's Sports Committee at KI organizes Sports Day for all students.

In autumn 2022, KI students had the opportunity to answer a survey about their experiences of and risks of discrimination and harassment. The results point to the need for more knowledge and active measures linked to lack of accessibility, discrimination and harassment in the study environment. This applies in particular to ethnicity and gender in connection with On-site training (VFU/VIL). KI is now working to strengthen its work with equal opportunities for all students.

The BioNut administration is the first to move, as a part of the relocation project going on in Neo, Flemingsberg. By the end of October, the administration can instead be found on floor 6 in Neo, in ITA's former premises.

Hi there Xin Xia! You are about to defend your thesis entitled “Cardiovascular Health, Orthostatic Hypotension, and Cognitive Aging”. Could you tell us a little bit more?

Hi Michael Axenhus, PhD student at the Division of Neurogeriatrics. On October 20 you will defend your thesis ”Characterization of proteins involved in disease progression in Alzheimer disease”, what is the main focus of the thesis?

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded this year to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, whose research gave rise to effective mRNA vaccines that contained the COVID pandemic and saved millions of lives. A well-deserved honour, according to Karolinska Institutet.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends infants to be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development, and health. But in some contexts, such as in a humanitarian emergency, adopting and maintaining optimal breastfeeding practices could be challenging. Unpacking what the challenges and opportunities of breastfeeding support in humanitarian emergencies are, and how to conduct such support effectively, is the topic of Nieves Amat Camacho’s PhD.

Juliette Foucher's paper validating the Edingburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS) in Swedish.

Congratulations to Linn Öijerstedt for receiving financial support by BioArctic for her postdoctoral fellowship in the pursue of finding a marker of TDP-43 pathology. In addition, Linn has received grants from Björklunds foundation and Demensfonden for her projects on cognitive and behavioural impairment in ALS.

“Knowledge is power” and with the right knowledge about storing chemicals, how to act in the event of a fire, how to best share a lab or how to report an incident, we create a work environment that is good for you, me and the environment.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Oslo present a new type of immunotherapy that attacks cancer cells with a specific mutation. A study published in the journal Nature Cancer shows promising effects on patient cells in mice and offers hope for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a cancer that has proven difficult to treat.

During weeks 40-43, the properties of the drinking water will change due to the fact that Norrvatten will test run the new waterworks Ulriksdal's groundwater during the period.

The yearly StratNeuro retreat gathers neuroscience researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Umeå University, and the Royal Institute of Technology for a couple of days of networking and getting up to date with the latest research from across the spectrum of neuroscience topics aligning with the interests that the StratNeuro constellation represents. This year, our retreat took place on the 29th and 30th of May, at Djurönäset, in a picturesque location by the Stockholm archipelago.

The closing date for nominations is December 10, 2023.

Ángela Amorós Molina is a former Global Health master student who was invited to present at Rowan University that has hosted a workshop series about teaching and research on the Sustainable Development Goals. Her paper Integrating the United Nations sustainable development goals into higher education globally: a scoping review, sparked the workshop participants to reflect on the importance of raising awareness among the students of the role of the SDGs and increase their presence in university.

We congratulate Professor Anna Martling, Research Group for Colorectal Surgery, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, who has been appointed an honorary member of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP).

Due to organisational adjustments at the department, Global Disaster Medicine – Health Needs and Response becomes a research group of its own from the 1st of October. However, they have already existed for more than twenty years, but in the form of a team called Centre for Research on Health Care in Disaster. In connection to becoming a research team, the name has also slightly changed, to present the group’s focus clearer.

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

UBW web can now be accessed remotely without a VPN connection – simply log in directly using your KI ID.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have published a study in Alzheimer's Research & Therapy that addresses possible associations between chronic stress, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. The study shows how people aged between 18 and 65 with a previous diagnosis of chronic stress and depression were more likely than other people to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease.

After scientific review by external reviewers and decisions by the steering group for odontological research, the following persons and projects have been awarded SOF funding for 2024-2026:

The notion that some level of microbial exposure might reduce our risk of developing allergies has arisen over the last few decades and has been termed the hygiene hypothesis. Now, an article published in Science Immunology by researchers from Karolinska Institutet challenges this hypothesis by showing that mice with high infectious exposures from birth have the same, if not an even greater ability to develop allergic immune responses than 'clean' laboratory mice.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet who studied SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.2.86, found that the new variant was not significantly more resistant to antibodies than several other variants that are circulating. The study also showed that antibody levels to BA.2.86 were significantly higher after a wave of XBB infections compared to before, suggesting that the vaccines based on XBB should provide some cross-protection to BA.2.86.

On September 19, maintenance on the wireless network, eduroam and KI-Guest, will be carried out 19:00-2:00 at campus Solna.
This may cause temporary interruptions.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

In a new study from Karolinska Institutet, the researchers found that combining information from blood markers and genetics reveals distinct subgroups of patients with myositis, which may help to improve disease classification and treatment. The study was published in EBioMedicine.

This year's KLOK award goes to the Optometry program, which together with the St. Erik Eye Hospital has developed a clinical training clinic where students from several educational programs can broaden and deepen their knowledge in an interprofessional learning environment.

Tips from Grants Office regarding current calls

Swedes with lower income and education were at greater risk of deteriorating mental health during the pandemic. This is shown in a study conducted by researchers from the University of Gothenburg in collaboration with Professor Mats Lekander at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience.

Earlier this year, Adobe implemented updates that required end users to re-login to Adobe services such as Creative Cloud and Acrobat. When logging in, the correct profile must be selected to access your account and some users are now receiving notifications that services have "Expired".

Karolinska Institutet, in partnership with universities in Sub-Saharan Africa, has for the last three years implemented an impactful training programme on innovation for managers within the health sector. “We really need these kinds of efforts to achieve sustainable health. The programme empowers the participants to work together in addressing complex challenges,” says Dr. Rawlance Ndejjo, lead of one of programme's modules.

Bernard and Barbro Osher donate USD 2,100,000 (approx. SEK 23 million) to the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Karolinska Institutet. The donation follows an earlier donation in 2005 from the same donors.

This text was sent by e-mail from Maria Eriksdotter, Dean of KI South, to all staff at BioNut and MedH on 28 September 2023.

As of January, next year, a new term of office for KI's Deans will begin. Deans have a line assignment and are appointed by the President. The role is undergoing change and development - an important task for the new Deans will be to participate in this process. As a Dean, you are part of the Faculty Board. It is the university management's intention to clarify the Dean's assignment in KI's line organization.

On September 19, Annika Bergquist was appointed Professor of Gastroenterology, focusing on hepatology, at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH). Annika is head of the Gastroenterology and Rheumatology Unit at MedH.

Medical student Julie Cheung from Karolinska Institutet (KI) recently won first prize at the prestigious Global Undergraduate Awards thesis competition in the category of Medical Sciences.

Mania is a possible but rare side effect of treatment with antidepressant medication in adults, but little has previously been known of this risk in depressed children and adolescents. A newly published paper in JAMA Psychiatry investigated this, finding no evidence of mania/hypomania induced by antidepressants by 12 weeks after treatment initiation. However, caution is necessary in treatment for children with more severe depression or where a parent has bipolar disorder.

The Swedish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology annually awards the best doctoral thesis of the year. 2023 the award goes to Ritah Bakesiima, who completed her dissertation at the Department of Women's and Children's Health last year. Her research studies the barriers to contraception among adolescents, and enlightens the importance of peer counselling in increasing contraceptive uptake.

The strategic partnership agreement, signed between Karolinska Institutet and University of Tokyo aims to increase mobility of students and researchers, joint research projects and faculty development programs such as pedagogic training and research supervision.

When the Times Higher Education (THE) in Great Britain publishes its annual university ranking, KI is ranked 50th among 1,904 institutions in the world and ranked 16th in Europe.

This is a short report from the project team working on the implementation of KI RIMS. The posts are aimed at those who are interested in the work of adapting the product Elements from Symplectic to KI's requirements and conditions and want to follow the development process.

Thanks to the research conducted by Christian Rück and others there is currently research on all compulsive related disorders. He is now venturing into a perhaps even more difficult and important task: Suicide prevention.

We are happy to introduce new colleagues at the Department of Laboratory Medicine. Welcome everyone!

The course aims to give doctoral students an opportunity to reflect on the importance of academic research and how this can lead to societal change.

Westins Buss

As part of an initiative with Imperial College London, Karolinska Institutet aims to stimulate doctoral student networking and interaction between KI doctoral students and doctoral students at Imperial College.

To facilitate new and existing contacts between postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students as well as increase research collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, KI’s Internationalisation Board is pleased to announce the availability of limited competitive funds for a lab visit.

To facilitate new and existing contacts between researchers and doctoral students as well as increase research collaboration with King’s College London, KI’s Internationalisation Board is pleased to announce the availability of limited competitive funds for a lab visit.

A group of researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among other universities, are involved in a multinational project awarded 4 million US Dollars to investigate the link between neurodevelopmental conditions and neurodegenerative diseases. The award is funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute Of Neurological Disorders And Stroke (NINDS).

Anna Wedell, professor at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) Gold Medal 2023 for her efforts in precision medicine. This gold medal has been awarded since 1921 for outstanding achievements in technology, economics, business and society.

The seasonal flu will soon hit the country. The management has decided to offer all employees of the University Dental Service and the Department of Dentistry the opportunity to be vaccinated against seasonal flu free of charge.