News archive

The update and new graphic profile for ki.se moved forward.

To want to save lives. To inspire the next generation of students. And be extremely tempted by the buffet outside the auditorium. All emotions came forth when a group of new professors were installed at KI.

During a visit to Sweden this week, WHO Europe’s director Dr Hans Kluge had time for a brief, but cordial, visit to KI. Dr Kluge met with Vice President Anders Gustafsson and the director of the Centre for Health Crises, Professor Johan von Schreeb, along with the centre’s strategic process leader Dr Anna Zorzet. The quartet talked about matters of common interest and about initiatives related to health crises in particular.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have in a new study used cellular reprogramming to create human three-dimensional brain models and infected these models with SARS-CoV-2. In infected models, the brain immune cells excessively eliminated synapses and acquired a gene expression pattern mimicking what has been observed in neurodegenerative disorders. The findings could help to identify new treatments against persistent cognitive symptoms after a Covid-19 infection.

Two researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded the Athena prize for an AI-based image analysis in precision medicine for risk classification of breast cancer patients. The Athena Prize is Sweden's largest prize for research and innovations that have been produced through collaboration between healthcare, academia and industry.

While prostate cancer claims many lives, overtreatment is also a significant problem. Martin Eklund develops methods of individualising diagnosis and treatment to reduce fatalities and overtreatment.

Karolinska Institutet hosted the annual meeting with the Swedish national Network in Epidemiology and Nutrition (NEON). The theme for this year’s meeting was: ”Digital lifestyle interventions and BigData in nutritional research”. Around a hundred researchers and practitioners in nutrition and epidemiology from all over Sweden met in Flemingsberg.

Through the Horizon Europe programme, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been granted large financial grants for approximately 20 different projects aimed at solving various societal challenges in health. One of the projects will explore the possibility of creating a common system for the reuse of already approved medicines to treat various diseases.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet and the Karolinska University Hospital indicates that only a rather small proportion of individuals attending a specialized memory clinic have an Alzheimer’s disease-type biomarker profile and could be considered eligible for novel disease-modifying treatments targeting amyloid.

Among patients with kidney cancer, the activity of four specific genes in the cancer cells seems to be able to predict the risk of the tumour spreading and the patient’s chances of survival. This is shown by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in a preclinical study published in Nature Communications.

Approximately 9,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Sweden, a number that has been steadily increasing since the 1990s. However, the prognosis for breast cancer has improved, more and more women can now be cured with a combination of surgery, radiotherapy and medical treatment.

At Karolinska Institutet's Inauguration Ceremony in Aula Medica on October 13th, 2022, KI's new professors were presented and academic prizes were awarded. The Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery was represented at the celebration by two new professors and one academic award.

During November, two-step verification will be mandatory for all students. Be proactive and activate it now, if not already done!

Due to necessary work on the water in Neo, requiring a complete water shut-off (including safety features such as eye showers and emergency showers), lab work cannot safely be performed on Saturday, November 12th. Further, there will be tests on the fire/evacuation alarm during the same day, so you are recommended not to be in Neo this day.

Please plan your work accordingly!

“Our planet, our health – an intergenerational dialogue” – the title of this year’s Rosling Seminar at Karolinska Institutet. The seminar, which was held 5 October, was jointly arranged by KI and the WHO with participants attending on site and online.

The range of cancer therapies is growing quickly, but it is often hard to know in advance which drug will help a particular patient. Rimma Axelsson uses PET imaging to select patients for effective targeted treatment.

What does continuous learning mean to us, and what can it look like in practice? These questions were the focus for the 170 participants who participated in the two day Educational Congress. The congress was permeated by meetings, inspiration and exchange of knowledge and experiences in the field. Among the activities at the congress, KI's pedagogical policy was launched.

Andrew Buckler at the research group Vascular Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Linking quantitative radiology to molecular mechanism for improved vascular disease therapy selection and follow-up" on October 21, 2022. Main Supervisor is Ulf Hedin.

Rune Brautaset has modernised optometry studies at KI and laid the groundwork for an optometric research environment at the university. He is currently researching how neurodegenerative diseases can be detected in the retina.

Marie Löf, at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, is a new Professor in Nutrition as of February 1st, 2022. Yesterday, October 13th, 2022, the inauguration of new professors at Karolinska Institutet took place with an installation ceremony in Aula Medica.

Four research projects coordinated from Karolinska Institutet have been awarded project grants by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) in 2022. This means that, over SEK 135 million are allocated to KI research in the fields of immunology, neuroscience, and stem cell biology.

Professor Kevin Eva of the University of British Columbia, Canada, is this year’s winner of the Karolinska Institutet Prize in Medical Education. He received his accolade in KI’s Aula Medica in conjunction with the university’s installation ceremony on 13 October. Among its many consequences, his research has helped to improve the admission processes at medical universities.

A study at Karolinska Institutet shows that the coronavirus variant BA.2.75.2, an Omicron sublineage, largely evades neutralizing antibodies in the blood and is resistant to several monoclonal antibody antiviral treatments. The findings, published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggest a risk of increased SARS-CoV-2 infections this winter, unless the new updated bivalent vaccines help to boost immunity in the population.

The multiple sclerosis (MS) research consortium at Karolinska institutet is
further strengthened by the recruitment of the distinguished MS scientist, Roland
Martin.

Gonçalo Castelo-Branco investigates the cells that produce myelin, the vital insulation that ensheathes our nerve cells. He has made unexpected findings that might help to explain what causes MS and eventually give rise to novel treatments.

Mattias Carlström researches the beneficial effects of nitric oxide on the body, including the cardiovascular system and kidneys, in order to understand the biological mechanisms and pave the way for the clinical use of different forms of nitrate that can increase concentrations of nitric oxide.

The prefrontal cortex is the centre for advanced cerebral function – it is here our impressions of the world are formed, plans forged and decisions made. By studying the real-time activity of neurons, Marie Carlén maps the functions of the prefrontal cortex.

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s KI Lifestyle4Health Best paper award for junior researchers. In this occasion, two, of many fantastic publications that were nominated, shared the first place:

Katalin Dobra researches cancer of the lungs, especially the part played by the protein Syndecan 1. Education is an important aspect of her professorship and she is in charge of the pathology module of the new medical programme.

For two days in the first week of October, Karolinska Institutet for the first time invited members of the public to partake in guided tours of the Nordic region’s largest zebrafish facility. More than 40 people took the opportunity, offered as part of Nobel Calling 2022, to visit more than 20,000 tropical freshwater fish that are helping to solve medical mysteries.

KI is still the Nordic Region’s highest ranking university, but has dropped ten places from 39 to 49 in this year’s Times Higher Education (THE) overall rankings over all subject fields. Other EU universities have also dropped, while those in Asia, especially China, have advanced. The UK and USA remain relatively stable. Universities with a technological profile have also fared better than the average.

Good health in the future through the development and application of the best possible medical education is the guiding star for Anna Kiessling’s work – for both research and quality work at Karolinska Institutet.

Transporting drugs to the right place and into the right cells is a major challenge. Samir EL Andaloussi researches how tiny vesicles called exosomes, which naturally transport material between cells, can be used for this purpose.

Pedagogical issues, in both dental education and dental care, are along with patients’ experiences of periodontitis two main themes in Annsofi Johannsen’s research. She is also head of KI’s dental hygiene programme.

Thanks to modern treatments, people with haemophilia live a normal life. But what will decades of medication mean for them as they reach old age? Jovan Antović researches blood clotting and haemophilia, especially in relation to elderly health.

Jacob Hollenberg conducts research to increase the survival rate after cardiac arrest. He leads the KI Center for resuscitation science, which develops and studies new innovative methods and treatments along the entire cardiac care pathway.

Molly M Stevens is Professor of Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics. By combining knowledge in material design and biology, her research group generates new technologies for repairing the body.

Jenny Mjösberg researches innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), a previously unknown part of the immune system. She wants to understand the part they play in different kinds of inflammatory disease, and ultimately contribute to new, improved therapies.

Lars E Eriksson researches earlier detection of lung cancer through the charting of early symptoms and biomarkers. He also researches organisational issues in healthcare as well as stigma and quality of life in patients with chronic infections like HIV.

Gerald McInerney researches the molecular-level battle between human cells and viruses. He is also a teacher who is passionate about developing the study of virology at KI.

Brjánn Ljótsson researches cognitive behavioural therapy , CBT. He has helped to develop and establish online CBT, and researches how CBT can improve the lives of people with physical disease.

Marie Löf’s research covers ways of improving health and reducing overweight and obesity in pregnant women and children. She develops apps that help individuals and families to make vital changes in their dietary and exercise habits.

Johan Hartman is developing new diagnostic methods for predicting therapeutic responses and judging relapse risk in cancer. The methods range from patient-derived three-dimensional tumour models to AI-aided risk assessment.

Anders Kvanta researches cell and gene therapies for diseases of the retina that currently lack effective treatments. His discovery that the pathologic formation of new blood vessels in the retina is attributable to the growth factor VEGF has saved the eyesight of millions of people.

Anders Thorell’s research evaluates techniques of gastrointestinal surgery, leading to new clinical recommendations. He also studies mechanisms behind the effects of weight-loss surgery.

Screening programmes for childhood hearing loss need to become better at collecting data and measuring outcomes in order to increase quality, such as improving the percentage of follow-ups, a new thesis from Karolinska Institutet reports.

For those who currently rent a parking space and have a paper permit, it will no longer be necessary in the future. Now Aimo Park is digitizing these permits. The change applies as of October 1 for existing permits.

We recognise the images of health care and medical staff in PPE. Maybe we have even experienced an outbreak of the disease where we have lived. But what is it actually like to work in an ongoing Ebola outbreak? Anneli Eriksson, specialist nurse and research specialist at KI, answers three questions about working in the ongoing outbreak in Uganda.

A randomized study, known by the acronym NordICC – Northern - European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer - shows colonoscopy screening reduces the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. The reduction is much smaller than experts previously assumed. The NordICC study is now published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to K. Barry Sharpless, Morten Meldal and Carolyn R. Bertozzi for the development of click chemistry, a quick and efficient way to build molecules. Several KI researchers use the technology in their daily research, one of which has co-authored a study with one of this year's prize winners. Here, they comment on the prize.