News archive

People suffering from post-COVID have been discouraged from exercising because early observations suggested it could be harmful. In a study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers from Karolinska Institutet show that post-COVIDdoes not mean that exercise must be strictly avoided.

UPDATE:

Since approx. 15:29 hours the systems are back online.

We are currently experienceing a system distrurbance with our login service affecting Primula, Staff.ki.se and others.

Investigation is currently ongoing.

/KI Helpdesk.

The Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund (Barncancerfonden) has decided to grant funding to eight research positions at KI for paediatric oncology research over the next two to six years. The goal is, among other things, to improve current treatment methods with the help of precision medicine that is based on the characteristics of the cancer and the individual child's genetics.

It is possible to leave most of the lymph nodes in the armpit, even if one or two of them have metastases larger than two millimetres. This is shown in a trial enrolling women from five countries, led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results open up for gentler surgery for patients with breast cancer.

We congratulate Paolo Parini at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) who has received a project grant from Vetenskapsrådet.

To see the changes you advocate for, the ability to make a difference in students’ lives and meeting new people. These are the things that KI student Manojj Dhinakaran likes most about being a student representative.

Global health challenges are the focal point of two collaborative projects coordinated by KI: WISDOM and Changemaker. Under its pillar II "Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness" programme, Horizon Europe has awarded the projects a total grant of EUR 14 million, of which KI controls the equivalent of just over EUR 3 million.

In a new study published in Molecular Oncology, researchers have discovered a novel mechanism to enhance the body’s immune response to tumors. The study is a result of collaboration between Sprint Bioscience, Karolinska institutet, the Luxembourg Institute of Health and Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, and was included as a manuscript in Yasmin Yu’s PhD thesis at the Department of Oncology-Pathology in 2021.

On Thursday, 28 March, the Sune Bergström auditorium at Karolinska University Hospital was filled with Ukrainian paramedics, when the hospital, together with the Centre for Health Crises at Karolinska Institutet, arranged a visit dedicated to the exchange of experiences, discussions, and guided tours.

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.

Today 28th of march Helpdesk close at 14:30
We are open again on tuesday 2 april at 08:00

/KI Helpdesk

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 13 March, Karolinska Institutet hosted several prominent researchers from The Lancet Global Health Commission on Medical Oxygen Security at the Widerström building, with a focus on discussing how to secure the availability of medical oxygen in the world.

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.

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.

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.

The EU Horizon Changemaker project, led by Kristi Sidney Annerstedt, on sustainable adolescent nutrition in Kenya, Tanzania and Burkina Faso, successfully completed the first Consortium meeting.

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.

On Wednesday, March 6, the university management, President Annika Östman Wernerson, Vice President Martin Bergö and University Director Veronika Sundström visited the Department of Global Public Health, to gain a better insight into the department's activities. Key issues discussed included global awareness, the department's strengths and how dialogue can strengthen cooperation. In addition to the university management, the department's management team and Dean Carl Johan Sundberg participated.

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.