News archive

A new study from the Kristina Broliden research group at the Department of Medicine in Solna, shows that women with a healthy bacterial flora in the vagina can simultaneously have disease-linked bacteria attached to the ectocervical mucosa. The study has recently been published in the journal Microbiome.

KI-Region Stockholm is the ALF region that best meets the quality criteria in the National Board of Health and Welfare’s evaluation of academic healthcare (USV). The results of the evaluation were compiled into a report published on 31 May. Research is the Stockholm region’s strongest area, but the report also comments positively on its innovation, pedagogics education and interaction with patients and their families.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of cancer that occurs in the nasopharynx, which is located behind the nose and above the back of the throat. NPC has a geographically skewed distribution worldwide, with high incidence rates in East and Southeast Asia. NPC is difficult to detect early, and treatment usually involves radiation therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of the two.

Forte is allocating SEK 160 million to research on the health and well-being of older people. The funds are divided into three programme grants and 19 project grants and the research will begin in 2023 and continue until 2029. Two researchers at the Aging Research Center (ARC), Karolinska Institutet, have been granted funding for their important research within the ageing research area.

Older autistic adults have a significantly higher risk of injury, especially self-inflicted, and physical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, anaemia, heart failure and COPD. This is according to a large-scale registry study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.

Our skin contains specialised long-lived killer cells that protect against intruders. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Copenhagen have now identified how these cells are formed, and shown that high levels of memory killer cells in cancer tissue correlate with a better survival rate in people with melanoma. The study is published in the journal Immunity.

In a new study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet show that recombinant spider silk protein hydrogels have many attractive features. They allow encapsulation of cells and bioactive molecules simply by incubation at 37°C. They are transparent, which allows monitoring of encapsulated cells, and the fibrillar network mimics that of the extracellular matrix. The mechanical properties of these hydrogels match those of different tissues, and the gels can be used for continuous drug release.

Hi there Jing Wu! You are about to defend your thesis entitled “Ambient Air Pollution and Transportation Noise: How They Affect Mental Health in Older Adults”. Could you tell us a little bit more about it?

Jenny Mjösberg at the Department of Medicine in Huddinge at Karolinska Institutet, receives the 2023 Eric K. Fernström Prize for young, promising and successful researchers, for her outstanding research on the role of innate lymphoid cells in various diseases.

In the largest survey to date, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have studied how diseases of the aortic valve affect prognosis in patients with various types of heart failure. The study was published in the European Journal of Heart Failure. Shared first authors are sisters Angiza and Bahira Shahim, who also presented the results of the study at the Heart Failure International Conference in Prague.

Older people with ischemic heart disease have an increased long-term risk of dementia and accelerated cognitive decline. A recent study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, suggests that the heart, the brain, and cognitive function are connected in the ageing process and that appropriate prevention and treatment of ischemic heart disease in older people might reduce the burden of dementia.

Hanna Karlsson and Sara Widén are the first ever recipients of KI’s new Sustainability Award, which they have earned in recognition of their efforts to support the KI faculty on issues of sustainability.

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.

The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte) is allocating over SEK 91 million to KI research on elderly wellbeing and future working life. One of the researchers, who is to receive SEK 24 million, is Associate Professor Carin Håkansta at Karolinska Institutet and Karlstad University, who will be examining how the working environment is affected when some managerial tasks are taken over by algorithms.

Hi Nathalie Frisendahl, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy. On June 16 you will defend your thesis ”Injurious falls in older adults: early identification of individuals at risk of falls—from observational studies to implementation”, what is the main focus of the thesis?

The SiiUss project (Sustainability, Inclusiveness, Integration for University Support Services), is a collaborative initiative between Karolinska Institutet and the University of the Philippines Diliman. The project introduces the SiiUss course, a learning platform designed to enhance professional development and foster sustainability, inclusiveness, and integration within university support services. The course just started with participants from both universities.

In a recently published study, researchers at the Institute for Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet show that girls with childhood asthma or food allergies are at increased risk of premenstrual disorders in adulthood.

This year marks one hundred years since Frederick Banting and John MacLeod were awarded the Nobel prize for the discovery of insulin. The discovery has saved the lives of millions of people with diabetes worldwide, but the price is also one of the most debated. In their photo documentary, Professors Lars Rydén and Jan Lindsten talk about the history of the discovery, the problems associated with the award, and the importance the findings have had for today's treatment of diabetes.

In a nationwide Swedish study involving more than 12,000 individuals with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), researchers found a significantly increased risk of severe infections requiring hospital admission. The study was published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Research Network 'KI Lifestyle4Health' collaborates with the University Library to create KI authors- MeSH terms networks.

In FORTE's call in the field of Elderly 2023 (Knowledge and working methods for a more equal, dignified and participatory ageing), four researchers at NVS and one affiliated researcher will share just over SEK 60 million. NVS congratulates them all!

Since attending KI’s capacity-building programme for leaders in women’s and children’s health, Tiwonge Gondwe-Mwangonde has used knowledge gained from the course to reduce the incidence of birth injuries in Malawi. She is now launching a new training programme for the region’s midwives.

A new study demonstrates that the dietary fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) derived from the mother's milk triggers a metabolic shift essential for heart cell maturation in newborn mice. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet contributed to the study published in Nature in May 2023.

While the relevance for human heart development still needs to be addressed, GLA is found in human breast milk and the GLA-activated nuclear receptors are highly conserved between mice and humans.

Hi Jakob Norgren, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics. On June 12 you will defend your thesis ”The impact of macronutritional composition and ketosis on cognitive health : from normal aging to Alzheimer’s disease”, what is the main focus of the thesis?

Students from the study programmes in nursing, radiography, medicine and psychology attended the new elective course in Sustainable Health and Development, 7.5 credits, which is offered for the first time in the spring term of 2023. The course is developed by the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health, which is a cooperation between KI and Makerere University.

Bipolar disorder underlies roughly five percent of all suicides among young people. Previous studies also show that there is often a long delay between the onset of bipolarism and its correct diagnosis and treatment. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now show that fewer boys commit suicide in Swedish regions where bipolar diagnoses are more common. The study, which is published in JAMA Psychiatry, could contribute to more proactive care for reducing the number of suicides.

Graduation time at Karolinska Institutet. At KI, more than a thousand students graduate this summer. We asked some of them what they are going to do after graduation and, of course, asked them to share some of their favourite memories from their time as a KI-student.

We would like to remind you never to leave your belongings out of sight.

Professor Stefan Swartling Peterson was invited to present on “prevention” in Warsaw, Poland, as the World Bank’s Anna Koziel organized a seminar May 19th to inspire prevention stakeholders from Poland and Western Ukraine. The challenge is to conceive an Non Communicable Disease prevention agenda that involves more than health care and to develop Primary Health Care. We foresee further collaboration opportunities as this initiative develops.

The Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with the National Competence Centre for Relatives (Nka), is launching a nationwide survey to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of older informal caregivers in Sweden.

Therese Scott Duncan, postdoc at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, is in a new study investigating how Lead Patients self-care has been received by healthcare professionals. The study, ”Empowered patients and informal caregivers as partners? A survey study of healthcare professionals’ perceptions”, is published in BMC Health Services Research.

In a nationwide Swedish study of more than 12,000 patients with microscopic colitis (MC), researchers from Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet found an increased risk of acute pancreatitis compared to the general population. The study has been published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Movement and physical activity were in focus when the KI Impact Challenge event was arranged for the first time after the pandemic. About 45 students from Karolinska Institutet were tasked to come up with what is needed to make young people become more physically active. To help them, they had 30 high school students and the various steps in design thinking, a systematic problem-solving method.

Vaccines against smallpox given until the mid-1970s offer continuing cross-reactive immunity to mpox (previously known as monkeypox), researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in a study published in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe.

A new Swedish study on the etiology of neuromuscular disorders has been published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Neurology. The study was carried out by researchers in the Rare Diseases group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with doctors at Karolinska University Hospital.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a molecular method able to detect whether or not bacteria respond to antibiotics within minutes. The findings are presented in the journal Nature Microbiology and the researchers now hope to develop a simple test for doctors to use.

This year’s Grand Silver Medals are awarded to Göran K Hansson och Jan-Inge Henter. The medal can be awarded to a person who has made tremendous efforts to support the activities of Karolinska Institutet’s mission and is awarded during the installation ceremony in Aula Medica on October 12.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found further evidence for how the Epstein-Barr virus can trigger multiple sclerosis or drive disease progression. A study published in Science Advances shows that some individuals have antibodies against the virus that mistakenly attack a protein in the brain and spinal cord.

The European University of Brain and Technology, NeurotechEU, of which Karolinska Institutet is one of nine partners, is pleased to announce the availability of ten competitive funds for short-term travel for faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, students and/or trainees between the partner institutions to plan or conduct collaborative projects.

Anna Falk at the research group Thoracic Surgery, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend her thesis "Depression and delirium in cardiac surgery patients" on May 26th, 2023. Main Supervisor is Malin Stenman.

An important meeting was held on 11 May in Aula Medica for the KI-Region Stockholm management group. It turned out to be a packed strategy day that focused on common issues facing the group, including the work following on from the recently released Swedish Research Council audit, conducted under the ALF evaluation.

On May 12 more than 850 people gathered at Stockholm City Hall to celebrate Karolinska Institutet’s 152 new doctors and honorary doctors Wilhelmina Hoffman and Fredrik Lundberg.

Global Disaster Medicine - Health Needs and Response at KI was represented in several ways at this year’s WADEM (the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine) congress, including with presentations and posters displaying new research conducted by the group.

Juliet Mwanga-Amumpaire is a paediatrician and Associate Professor of paediatrics at Mbarara University with over ten years of experience conducting clinical research. She is currently the director of Epicentre Mbarara Research Centre run by Médecins Sans Frontières that conducts health related research aiming to guide policy for stakeholders in health. She recently pursued her PhD where she studied the quality of care at private health facilities in Uganda.

New findings on how a subset of immune cells in the brain is involved in the establishment of a neuronal system controlling cognition.

Biobank Sweden has teamed up with the Swedish regions and the National Pandemic Centre (NPC) at Karolinska Institutet to produce a new process that gives researchers access to 1.5 million COVID-19 samples. The samples are stored at the NPC and researchers applying to use them must first seek ethical approval.

The third installment in the seminar series KI Contributes explored the health crises created by war and armed conflict, through the medium of visual art. An Armenian artist and a Swedish surgeon shared their experiences of war and how humans live through it and try to make sense of their difficult experiences.

350 cardamom buns awaited KI’s students as they gathered for a coffee and chat with the new president Annika Östman Wernerson, who had arranged the informal meeting with the student unions to encourage a closer dialogue with the university management.

Karolinska Institutet has decided to award Johan Hartman and Mattias Rantalainen the 2023 Prize for Innovation and Utilization. They are rewarded for improving cancer diagnostics with innovative research and inspiring working methods.

Between 13 and 19 March 2023, neuroscientists around the world took the initiative to spread the word about the importance of brain science as part of the "Brain Awareness Week". The Strategic Neuroscience Research Network (StratNeuro) at Karolinska Institutet took the opportunity to initiate a recurring outreach event to spark enthusiasm and raise awareness for neuroscience research, which was also part of the global campaign.