News archive

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.

On March 1, Ingrid Delin started as coordinator in the FM laboratory safety team, Biomedicum.

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.

KI researcher Laura Baranello has been awarded the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant for her researches into the interaction between the cancer-driving protein MYC and topoisomerase enzymes. Her aim is to identify drugs for more targeted cancer therapy with fewer side-effects. Laura Baranello’s MYCinTOPshape project has been awarded approximately EUR 2 million to be spread over five years.

If you find cleaning boring, you might think of it as a form of exercise. But is that true? Anna-Karin Welmer, senior lecturer in physiotherapy, gives us the answer.

In the healthcare setting, keeping things clean can be vital to prevent the spread of dangerous bacteria. But in a household, what’s best for your health – to live pretty dirty or to be a clean freak? Read our interviews with the researchers who have a pure interest in cleaning.

Researchers at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), Magnus Tobiasson and Eva Hellström-Lindberg have together with the Nordic MDS group developed a method that makes it possible to detect early relapse of the blood cancer myelodysplastic syndrome after stem cell transplantation. The method makes it possible to initiate early treatment and thus hopefully prevent relapse. The study has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Pradeepa Pushparaj wrote her thesis at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology. She is awarded Sven Gard´s scholarship for the best theses in virology during 2023.

The BIGS Neuroscience Summer School provides a systematic and comprehensive introduction to key neuroscience topics for first- to second-year PhD students in June 2024.

Adam Mitangu Fimbo is a doctoral student at Karolinska Institutet, but not for much longer. On April 26 he will defend is doctoral thesis titled Pharmacovigilance of Mass Drug Administration as Preventive Chemotherapy to Control and Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis in Tanzania. Meet the Director General of Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority, and expert on the safety and quality of drug administration.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet reveals that immune cells in the liver react to high cholesterol levels and eat up excess cholesterol that can otherwise cause damage to arteries. The findings, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, suggest that the response to the onset of atherosclerosis begins in the liver.

This is a summary of the hybrid information meeting that prof Maria Eriksdotter, head of the project steering group, together with the departmental heads of MedH and BioNut held on 11 March addressing all staff at BioNut and MedH with a special focus on updates in digital systems such as Primula and UBW.

The Instituto de Neurociencias (San Juan de Alicante, Spain) offers up to 6 International Scholarships for the “Master’s Degree in Neurosciences: from the bench to the bedside” during Oct 2024 - June 2025.

Professor Margareta (Meta) Blombäck, one of the pioneers in the field of hemostasis and thrombosis, passed away peacefully on March 7th , 2024 in Stockholm.

Professor emeritus Lennart Levi has passed away at the age of 93. He is survived by his wife Inger and sons Richard and Ragnar and their families. Töres Theorell and Jan Palmblad, both professors emeriti at Karolinska Institutet, write an obituary of Sweden’s first professor of psychosocial environmental medicine, specialising in occupational medicine.

A large international research study, COSMOS, initiated by Karolinska Institutet and Imperial College London, UK, has studied over 250,000 mobile phone users to investigate whether those who use mobile phones a lot and for a long time have a higher risk of brain tumours than others. The study, published in Environment International, found no association between long-term cell phone use and the risk of brain tumors.

New research from Karolinska Institutet shows how oestrogen protects against MASLD, a fatty liver disease that has increased dramatically during the current obesity epidemic. The study, published in Molecular Systems Biology, shows how a new drug under development could become a future treatment for fatty liver disease and liver cancer.

Susanne talks under the title "How to improve life after stroke?" For those who suffer a stroke, life's conditions, such as mobility, the ability to speak and work, can change drastically. But with the right interventions from an occupational therapist, such as researcher Susanne Guidetti, a lot can be improved at best.

Through a new call form, the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund is funding two research programmes that will look at different types of unwanted side effects, primarily from chemotherapy. Precision medicine and the opportunities offered by the development of biomarkers are common to the two programmes, which are led by KI researchers Susanna Ranta and Kenny Rodriguez-Wallberg, respectively, and which now share SEK 19 million over four years.

Emma Eliasson, postdoctoral researcher at the National centre for suicide research and prevention (NASP), is featured in Springer Nature Communities to discuss POTION – Promoting Social Interaction through Emotional Body Odours – a research project that aims to explore whether chemosignals, that can be found in human sweat, in combination with a mindfulness treatment, can lower social anxiety.

Tips from KI Grants Office about current calls.

KTH, SU, and KI, also called the Stockholm Trio, have joined forces for climate action. Part of this collaboration has been a student competition with the overarching theme ”Climate and Health.” Over a two-week period, teams of students have collaborated to tackle challenges on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the city more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Employees at BioNut and MedH will notice changes in several digital systems from April. The daily work at the departments will continue as before, but employees at BioNut will have limited access to UBW and Primula for a couple of weeks.

A research team has examined the link between adverse childhood experiences and the risk of mental health problems later in life, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry. The researchers from Karolinska Institutet and University of Iceland have found that the risk of suffering from mental illness later in life among those experiencing significant adversity in childhood can be partly explained by factors shared by family members, such as genetics and environment.

The two conversation rooms Betacellen and Levercellen on floor 7 are now bookable meeting rooms and are available in the Outlook calendar together with the other meeting rooms.

The part of the spiral staircase, on the Hälsovägs side, which today connects floor 4 with floor 5 in the NEO building will be from Monday 2024-03-11 to be permanently closed. This is because the NEO house has had problems with unauthorized persons entering the building via the entrance on floor 4 (from Hälsovägen) and further up to the upper floors.

Queen Silvia was present at the certification which took place at the Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge on February 22. The certification was possible thanks to all 180 employees at the unit having undergone training in dementia care (Silvia training).

The prize recognizes one or more researchers/research students who have distinguished themselves through outstanding utilization of research results that have led to innovation. Anyone can nominate one or more candidates. Self-nomination is accepted.

Anna Beskow, head of Uppsala Biobank at Uppsala University, will be chairing the external group that will be reviewing the investigative team’s report and conclusions concerning the freezer failure at Neo. The external review group, which comprises four independent experts, will present its report to KI president Annika Östman Wernerson.

Are you thinking of applying for an exchange while studying a programme at KI, but don’t know where to start? Get inspiration from a current exchange student and read the answers to some of the most common questions.

On March 21, the Archive and registry unit will give an open lecture in English on registration and archiving of public documents.

Reykjavik University (the Institute for Biomedical and Neural Engineering) provides Masters students and PhD candidates in neuroscientific disciplines, bioengineering, clinical or neuro psychology, data science, and neurobiological sciences, with an opportunity to participate in a summer school (on site) during May 28th - 30th 2024. Last day of application March 8. If questions and/or interested contact Mia Bjerke.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found that spiders have a special trick to make their silk strong, by using a natural biocompatible molecular enhancer. By using the same secret the researchers are able to create biomimetic spider-silk fibers in a non-toxic way.

Karolinska Institutet has decided to award honorary doctorates to Ashley Moffett, professor emerita at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Peter Thelin, chair of the Swedish Brain Fund, for their important contributions to science and KI, respectively. The formal ceremony will take place at the conferment ceremony in Stockholm City Hall on 26 April.

The Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery and the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Kragujevac in Serbia has now formalized a multi-year cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding.

Umeå professor Oliver Billker is awarded the Medicine Doctor Axel Hirsch prize 2024 for his outstanding research in the field of malaria.

People with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of stroke and a worsened outcome after suffering from it. Now, researchers at the Karolinska Institutet have shown that stroke outcome is significantly improved in mice with obesity and type 2 diabetes who have been treated with the commonly used diabetic drugs SGLT-2 inhibitors. The results are published in the scientific journal Cardiovascular Diabetology and may have clinical relevance for stroke rehabilitation in type 2 diabetes.

The government has decided to appoint Sophia Hober as chairman of KI's board effective 1 February 2024. She replaces Göran Stiernstedt, who becomes chairman of Karolinska University Hospital's board.

In a study published in Nature Communications, KI researchers have revealed a fascinating discovery that could be important in cancer treatments. This new insight involves c-MYC, a protein component that is central to cancer development.

A decision taken on 20 February has given KI its first language policy, which will provide guidance on general matters relating to language and its use for all Karolinska Institutet employees.

A recent study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University has found that cognitive impairment varies significantly among individuals with newly diagnosed psychosis.

KI bachelor, master’s and doctoral students of KI within the fields of biomedicine and life sciences are invited to apply to the 7th International BonnBrain³ Conference hosted by the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, in collaboration with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar.

In 2024, the scholarship recipients Emma Hagström Molin and Anna Svensson, funded by the Catarina and Sven Hagströmer Foundation, will be working as embedded researchers at the Hagströmer Library at KI.

In the beginning of 2024 we, the Department of Medicine Solna (MedS), asked the library to generate bibliometric data, as one approach to gauge our scientific activity and contribution to knowledge production.