News archive

Former state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has been awarded the BiotechBuilders Award 2023 for his efforts during the pandemic 2020-2023. The prize is awarded by the non-profit association Stockholm BiotechBuilders, to which KI is a partner and which works to strengthen the Swedish life science sector.

The early treatment of obesity in children is effective in both the short and long term, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in a study published in International Journal of Obesity.

World Health Organization (WHO) has launched two new publications focusing on responsible media reporting about suicide and decriminalization of suicide and suicide attempt.

Although a simple molecule, nitric oxide is an important signal substance that helps to reduce blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels. But how it goes about doing this has long been unclear. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now present an entirely novel principle that challenges the Nobel Prize-winning hypothesis that the substance signals in its gaseous form. Their findings are presented in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

Every year our team meets outside of the KI campus for a team day. It is a chance to kick off the academic year together, getting to know each other and increase the chances of research synergies and collaborations. This year we spent the day at beautiful Ersta Diakoni on Södermalm in Stockholm. One of the highlights was the session with invited speaker Anders Nordström, Ambassador for global health.

The Centre for Health Crises is currently supporting the WHO’s EMT (Emergency Medical Teams) initiative, through mentorship to the Ministries of Health in Georgia and Armenia in their development of EMTs. The director of the Centre, Professor Johan von Schreeb, has just returned from spending ten days in the two countries, working with the Ministries and other partners.

Susanne Andermo, Assistant Professor at the Division of Nursing, will receive part of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences' more than SEK 5 million, received from the Council of the European Social Fund in Sweden.

Results from a large population-based cohort study, including 60 000 men and women in central Sweden, suggest that exposure to higher concentrations of disinfection by-products in drinking water is associated with elevated risk of colorectal cancer in men.

Reflux disease manifests as acid regurgitation and heartburn and is a known risk factor for oesophageal cancer. However, a new study published in The BMJ by researchers at Karolinska Institutet now reports that the majority of patients do not have a higher risk of cancer. A large-scale study from three Nordic countries shows that the cancer risk is only elevated in patients whom gastroscopy reveals to have changes in the oesophageal mucosa.

The Swedish Society of Medicine awards Professor Jesper Lagergren at Karolinska Institutet with the Reuterskiöld Prize, for world-leading research focusing on the causes, prevention and treatment of esophageal and gastric cancer.

Professor Miia Kivipelto, Division of Clinical Geriatrics at NVS, receives almost SEK 24 million from Forte for the project "FINGER-Pro: Evidence-based health promotion interventions for healthy ageing: Adaptation and implementation of the FINGER-multidomain model in diverse environments and sociocultural contexts".

A major study published in JAMA led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet suggests that a possible cause of spontaneous brain haemorrhage could be transmitted via blood transfusion. At the same time, it is very unlikely that anyone should suffer a brain haemorrhage after receiving donated blood.

The Ulf von Euler Lecture is an official annual named lecture of Karolinska Institutet. It was instituted by decision of the faculty at KI upon an initiative taken by Ulf von Euler's former students at the time of his passing away in 1983.

KI has climbed the furthest of all universities in this year’s Kantar Public Reputation Index, notching up a eight-point recovery from 58 to 66.

A new study shows that the activation of the brain's immune defense cells, astrocytes, in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, could be tracked early with a brain PET scanner, and is linked to changes that can be detected in the blood later in the course of the disease. The study has now been published in Molecular Neurodegeneration.

Dr Giulia Dallagiacoma graduated from medical school at the University of Pavia, Italy, where she also recently completed her specialty in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. As part of her specialty training, she had the opportunity to visit another university and therefore joined Karolinska Institutet as a guest researcher to write her thesis project on RSV prevention among children.

KI has been approved continued funding from the Swedish Institute (SI) to implement a capacity building training programme for professionals in sub-Saharan Africa during the period 2023 - 2024. The programme, which has been running since 2020, has resulted in significant positive changes in the field of reproductive, maternal and newborn health.

One radiologist supported by AI detected more cases of breast cancer in screening mammography than two radiologists working together, reports the ScreenTrustCAD study from Karolinska Institutet in The Lancet Digital Health. The researchers say that AI is now ready to be implemented in breast cancer screening.

The government has decided that KI must return the remains of Christina Catharina Larsdotter to Malå Sami Association and Malå Sameby. A repatriation request was submitted to the government in January by KI’s former president Ole Petter Ottersen. 

Close relatives of people with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease have a higher risk of developing liver cancer and dying from liver-related diseases, according to a national study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Journal of Hepatology. This means that family members could also benefit from the lifestyle advice that is currently only given to patients, the researchers conclude.

Researchers at the Ageing Research Centre have been awarded a number of grants from Demensfonden, Stiftelsen Sigurd och Elsa Goljes minne, Stiftelsen Ragnhild och Einar Lundströms minne, as well as the SfoEpi Consolidator grant, for studies on the health and well-being of older people. In addition, ARC is involved in a project within preventive and health-promoting interventions that has been granted funding from Forte.

Cardiogenic growth factors play important roles in heart development and in a new study published in the scientific paper Nature Communications from researchers at Karolinska Institutet shows how stem cell therapeutics and mRNA technology are beginning to converge offering major improvements in vascularization, survival, expansion, differentiation, and ultimately the function of human stem cell grafts.

Cluster headache, one of the most painful diseases known to man, is genetically correlated with risk-taking behaviour, ADHD, depression and musculoskeletal pain, and smoking is a causal risk factor, according to an article published in Annals of Neurology.

Since 2015, Karolinska Institutet has been a member of Scholars at Risk, a network that offers protection for researchers whose lives are in serious danger. Thanks to a request granted by KI and a donation by the Olle Engkvist Foundation, a researcher from Afghanistan has been given a position at KI.

Children of a parent with alcohol or drug use disorder have a greater risk of intellectual disability, even if the problem only lies with the father, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report. According to the study, which is published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, preventive measures should be directed at both parents.

Petter Brodin, professor at Karolinska Institutet, is awarded the Oscar Medin's prize 2023 by the Swedish Medical Association (SLS) for his outstanding research efforts in Paediatrics.

Researchers at Karolinska Institute have developed a novel method using DNA Nanoballs to detect pathogens, aiming to simplify nucleic acid testing and revolutionize pathogen detection. The study's results, published in Science Advances, could pave the way for a straightforward electronic-based test capable of identifying various nucleic acids in diverse scenarios quickly and cheaply.

Professor Mats Trulsson at the Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded an honorary doctorate at Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, in Toulouse, France.

Extracellular vesicles are small cell bubbles that play a crucial role in how our cells communicate. A recent study published in Science Advances has unlocked some fascinating insights into these tiny messengers and their potential in healthcare.

The government has appointed Jan Albert, professor of infectious disease control at Karolinska Institutet and senior consultant at Karolinska University Hospital, to lead a government inquiry looking into strengthening the country’s preparedness for future pandemics. The directive concerns a national strategy for how pandemics are to be managed and a possible revision of the Communicable Diseases Act. The investigation should be delivered in February 2025.

A study by five NVS researchers published in The Journal of American Medical Directors Association, shows that fear of falling can increase the risk of injurious falls in older adults, especially for those with no apparent physiological risk of falling.

STINT, the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education, annually publishes an index measuring the internationalisation of Swedish higher education institutions. It has now given the maximum of five stars to Karolinska Institutet.

Two researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded ERC Starting Grants, totalling 3 million euro over five years. Kasper Karlsson and Juan Pablo Lopez will each receive EUR 1.5 million for projects that aim to fight cancer in children and understand how psychedelic compounds can be used to treat psychiatric disorders.

KI Housing has four Residence Assistants working in our accommodation area KI Residence Solna. Their mission is to be a helping hand for tenants staying in the area and to create a community where the tenants get to know their neighbors.

We are excited to share an interview with one of our standout students who recently completed the course on Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare (15hp).

KI’s only Erasmus Mundus Master programme, the Master programme Public Health in Disasters, will continue, following a renewed agreement between the three collaborating partners; KI, Universidad de Oviedo and the University of Nicosia. Course leaders look forward to continuing to provide students with the latest tools to work with public health in disasters and advance research in the field. And the new format of the programme allows for all students to come to KI.

On August 31, 80 new master's students from 23 different countries were welcomed to the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet. During a welcome day, they got to know their new department, received tips on the use of AI tools, answered a quiz from Gapminder, and got to know fellow new students. In addition, they were treated to a lecture by former state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell on the topic "Is the pandemic over?"

Red blood cells exposed to oxygen deficiency protect against myocardial infarction, according to a new KI study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigations. The study also shows that the protective effect is enhanced by a nitrate-rich vegetable diet.

People without a secure job contract can reduce their risk of premature death by 20 percent if they gain permanent employment, a study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Journal of Epidemiology and Community reports. According to the researchers, the results indicate that job security in the Swedish labor market needs to improve.

Patients with cluster headache suffer from various sleep problems, such as insomnia, which also occur in periods when the patient is symptom-free and should be considered during treatment. This is shown by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in a study recently published in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

According to UNICEF, approximately one in five young people suffer from mental health issues, which in turn often leads to risk-taking with alcohol, tobacco and drugs. In the long run, it can cause lifelong health impairments in adulthood. In a three-year project coordinated by Karolinska Institutet, a method used to improve young people’s wellbeing in India, Kenya, the U.S. and Colombia is being evaluated to see if it can work in other parts of the world.

Cholesterol-lowering statins might protect patients with ulcerative colitis from developing and dying from colorectal cancer. Statin treatment was also associated with a lower risk of death regardless of cause in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. This is according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet published in eClinicalMedicine.

Vitamin C and other antioxidants stimulate the formation of new blood vessels in lung cancer tumours, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation shows. The discovery corroborates the idea that dietary supplements containing antioxidants can accelerate tumour growth and metastasis.

StratNeuro awards a total of 15 MSEK to support Collaborative Neuroscience Projects.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet found a high number of the so called natural killer cell, an important anti-lymphoma cell, in samples from patients with cutaneous lymphoma. However, the cells were immature and less active. A future therapy could be to restore their function locally. The study was published in Frontiers in Immunology.

Professor Lars Olson is awarded the Arvid Carlsson Foundation’s major prize for outstanding research 2023. In addition, Professor Sophie Erhardt and Adjunct Professor Johan Lundberg are both awarded grants from the foundation.

Lifestyles, the pandemic and dental care were some of the topics under discussion when Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Jakob Forssmed visited Karolinska Institutet on 28 August, the same day as the autumn term kicked off.

When the Minister for Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Jakob Forssmed visited KI on Monday 28 August, he met, among others, the director of the Centre for Health Crises, Johan von Schreeb. During the meeting the Centre highlighted the need for national collaboration on the role of universities in crises, as well as a national ability (surge capacity), focused on people trained in handling health crises, to be ready when the crisis hit.

To reduce the risk of complications, it is important to measure antibodies in individuals who develop diabetes in adulthood, while also considering the levels of these antibodies.

A new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet has examined how T cells of the immune system are affected by weightlessness. The results, which are published in the journal Science Advances, could explain why astronauts’ T cells become less active and less effective at fighting infection.