News archive

Maternal suicide is an alarming public health issue and the second most common cause of death during the postnatal period. New research from the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM) shows that mothers with clinically diagnosed perinatal depression had a three times higher risk of suicidal behavior compared to mothers without perinatal depression.

CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment) is led by a number of EU organizations with the aim of advancing how research is assessed in order to maximise its quality, transparency and impact. KI has now signed the agreement together with a number of other Swedish universities.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown that nasal drops with IgA antibodies can protect mice from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The results imply a new way to protect individuals at high risk from different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and possibly other infections. The study is published in PNAS.

New doctoral student at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS.

New doctoral student at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS.

Women with autoimmune disease are more likely to suffer from depression during pregnancy and after childbirth; conversely, women with a history of perinatal depression are at higher risk of developing autoimmune disease, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry reports.

Psychological gender differences persist in countries with improved living conditions, according to a study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science by researchers from Karolinska Institutet. Some differences become larger and others smaller as women seem to benefit more than men from improved living conditions. The findings confirm to some extent the so-called gender paradox.

UTokyo-KI LINK has been awarded the international collaborative research program ASPIRE- A grant from Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)

Do you feel overwhelmed by all information at the start of the semester? No worries! The University Library has gathered tips to help you stay on top of things.

The National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently partnered with Science to survey the questions that still need to be answered if we are to advance nanotechnology in society.

Sophie Erhardt, professor in Experimental Psychiatry, KI, receives a 3 million SEK grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, for the development of drugs targeting immune-induced cognitive decline and psychosis. This funding marks a significant step in Professor Erhardt's pursuit of innovative solutions within the realm of mental health. The project stands among the ten distinguished Swedish scientific life science initiatives honored with grants.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have discovered that the gut microbiome can influence how well people respond to mRNA COVID vaccines. The study, published in the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, suggests that certain bacteria in the gut can enhance the immune response to the vaccine, whereas other bacteria may weaken it.

We are proud to contribute to the paper ‘Transcriptional determinants of lipid mobilization in human adipocytes’ from the Mikael Ryden and Niklas Mejhert lab at the Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet.

Due to increased rents from our landlords, the rents will be increased from January 1st, 2024.

Young people who have had surgery for obesity do not improve their mental health despite significant and permanent weight loss. However, bariatric surgery increases the risk of early alcohol problems. This is according to the largest long-term study of young people who have undergone bariatric surgery, conducted at Lund University and Karolinska Institutet, among others.

Karolinska Institutet is the university from which the most articles on physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis have been published since the beginning of the 2000s.

Hi John Ressman, doctoral student at the Division of Physiotherapy. On January 26 you will defend your thesis "The Single Leg Squat in clinical testing. Aspects of reliability, validity, and associated factors". What is the main focus of the thesis?

A common practice in the Nordic countries has sparked conversations on social media, namely to let babies nap outside in strollers all year around including in subzero tempratures. Pictures and videos on social media of babies sleeping outside have left some viwers wondering if it is safe and if there are any benefits. Tobias Alfvén was invited to Swedish Radio to answer some of the questions around the practice.

Many Swedes live with fatty liver – and it doesn’t have to be dangerous. But for some, it kicks off a course of disease in which persistent inflammation leads to cirrhosis. Medicinsk Vetenskap has talked to researchers who look after the liver – the behemoth of the belly that has a somewhat magical ability to recover, along with enormous overcapacity.

In an unbiased cross-checking of a wide array of health registers, an exciting connection emerged. Could a common and cheap blood lipid lowering drug from the standard repertoire help patients with the liver diseases PSC? This question is now the subject of a clinical trial.

Peter Jonson needed a liver transplant after unexpectedly learning that his liver was in poor condition. Today he is doing well and does not miss the lifestyle that made him sick. "Non-alcoholic beer tastes really good", he says.

When Martin Bengtsson found out he had fatty liver disease, he decided to start eating healthier and exercising more. "A lot of people think you can't do anything about fatty liver - but you can," he says.

Liver doctors tell us that the general public’s level of knowledge about the liver is surprisingly low. A study confirms this.

It is possible to remove 80 per cent of a healthy liver without it losing its function. But how much can be removed from a diseased liver in which some tissue is already lost? This issue is central to reducing mortality after liver surgery.

Professor Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg has come up with a way to produce tiny livers, called liver spheroids.

Impaired cognition among preschoolers born very early can be predicted already at discharge from neonatal care. This is according to a study from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and University College Cork, Ireland published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

There does not appear to be any profound differences between so-called exposure-based CBT and traditional CBT in the treatment of fibromyalgia, according to a study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. Both forms of treatment produced a significant reduction in symptoms in people affected by the disease. The study is one of the largest to date to compare different treatment options for fibromyalgia and is published in the journal PAIN.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital have followed recipients of the new updated COVID-19 vaccine and analysed the antibody response to different SARS-CoV-2 variants. The results show a surprisingly strong response to the now dominant and highly mutated Omicron variants. [This news article has been updated]

On Saturday, November 18th, the KI Network Lifestyle4Health welcomed the public to an informative afternoon at Medicinska Föreningen at Karolinska Institutet. The afternoon was filled with lectures, health marker measurements, and practical "patient cases" that participants could analyse to suggest recommendations for lifestyle changes.

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.

Join us on a journey through history to meet the people behind the research that today makes up the Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society.

The Ulla and Ingemar Dahlberg Foundation has decided to donate SEK 50 million to Karolinska Institutet. The grant will be used for a new professorship in vision science with a focus on ocular neurobiology and have the full name "Ulla och Ingemar Dahlbergs professur i synvetenskap med inriktning mot okulär neurobiologi" (Ulla and Ingemar Dahlberg's Professorship in Visual Science with specialization in Ocular Neurobiology).

In a world characterised by challenges and changes, I would like to say an extra special thank you to all of you. Your commitment and flexibility have been crucial. Enjoy a well-deserved break over the holidays.

The University Director has made a decision to start a new project aimed at modernising the working methods and workplace of KI's central administration.

The year is ending, and President Annika Östman Wernerson, University Director Veronika Sundström and Vice President Martin Bergö express their gratitude in a filmed Christmas greeting.

As the year draws to a close, I would like to join Vice President Martin Bergö and University Director Veronika Sundström in taking this opportunity to thank all our staff and students for the important work you have done in 2023.

Harald Lund, Matthew Hunt, Zerina Kurtović & Camilla Svensson have published an article in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. They have discovered a unique structure in the blood-nerve barrier in a region of the peripheral nervous system called the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). The study has implications for understanding how diseases target the nervous system and how they can be treated.

In the fall of 2023, the university management presented nine focus areas for KI's future development, major issues that affect all employees and students at KI. "Our conscious strategy has been to try to listen to and understand what Karolinska Institutet needs here and now," says President Annika Östman Wernerson.

This is a summary of the information meeting that Maria Eriksdotter, Dean of KI South, together with the departmental heads of MedH and BioNut as well as the project manager, held on 20 December on Zoom addressing all staff at BioNut and MedH.

The landlord carries out warranty work outside the entrances in all three buildings in KI Residence Solna.

From December 23 to January 7, the KI Housing office will be closed. Our maintenance service team will handle urgent maintenance requests December 27 to December 29 and January 2 to lunchtime, January 5.

Starting next year, all employees of Karolinska Institutet will be entitled to a higher wellness allowance. The wellness allowance is a tax-free grant that staff can use for different kinds of exercise and is set to be increased from SEK 1,500 to SEK 3,000 per year.

Pernilla Lagergren, professor of Surgical Care Sciences at Karolinska Institutet, is researching support for recovery after treatment of oesophageal or gastric cancer.

Blood fat-lowering statins could slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, at least for some patients. This is the result of a new study led by Karolinska Institutet published in Alzheimer Research and Therapy. But the researchers are cautious in their interpretations and see the results as a first step in a research journey that may eventually provide the answer.

Tips from KI Grants Office about current calls.

Congratulations to the 2 researchers at Labmed who receive funds from Barncancerfonden 2024-2026.

KI has appointed three new deans who will take office in January 2024. The three deans have been selected from a group of about ten applicants.

The internationalisation board is pleased to announce the availability of limited competitive funds for grant applications to strengthen collaborative interactions within oral health and innovations.

The p53 tumor suppressor protein is encoded by TP53, the most frequently mutated gene in cancer. A review article published in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology by professor Klas G Wiman and colleagues at the Department of Oncology-Pathology describes how p53 could be used as a target for new cancer therapies.

On 6 December, the European Commission published the names of the experts appointed to its newly established working groups on science diplomacy. Maja Fjaestad, expert coordinator at the Centre for Health Crises and affiliated to research at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), is one of two Swedish university researchers who will be part of the working groups. The working groups will develop a potential future European framework for science diplomacy.