News archive

The Centre for Research on Health Care in Disasters has had three articles published so far during the month of May. One covers the development of quality assurance tools for ICUs in Lebanon, whilst the other looks at the experiences of moral challenges among disaster health care responders, and the consequences thereof. The third reviews autotransfusion in low income areas.

A new study from the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet characterises a novel neuronal population in the basal ganglia, responsible for the interaction between two types of neurotransmitters, GABA and acetylcholine. The study was recently published in Cell Reports.

When others run away from bad things, Johan von Schreeb can be found dashing towards them. He has a wealth of experience in bringing order to chaotic situations – but as an administrator, he’s a complete disaster. Meet the professor who wants to control the health crises of the future.

Microscopic colitis is the most recently recognized inflammatory condition of the large intestine in which abnormal reactions of the immune system cause inflammation of the inner lining of the colon. At present, more than 10,000 people in Sweden are estimated to be living with the disease. Previously, insufficient awareness and knowledge of microscopic colitis have led to underdiagnosis of the disorder, leaving patients untreated.

Several high-profile cases of intimidation, harassment and imprisoned researchers demonstrate that academic freedom is under considerable pressure. Earlier this May, KI highlighted the situation during the seminar "Academic freedom and international collaboration in a turbulent world."

Congratulations to researchers at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, who have received grants from "Henning och Johan Throne-Holst stiftelse" 2022.

For the first time, Swedish higher education institutions have conducted a joint national survey on the prevalence of gender-based and sexual harassment in the academic sector. The responses from a total of almost 39,000 employees and students show that young people, women and students (including doctoral students) are particularly at risk.

Now that the application and nomination deadlines have passed, the recruitment process for KI president has moved on to the interview stage.

On April 21, the 2nd Swedish Meeting for Alzheimer's Research was organized in Aula Medica by the Center for Alzheimer Research at NVS. In total, around 450 attendees participated, of which about 300 were researchers.

EIT Health Scandinavia International has awarded SEK 23 million in research grants to support international collaboration in precision prevention in rheumatology, with almost half of the grant distributed to Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm. The scope of the project includes creating the conditions for the early diagnosis of risk factors for developing RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and enabling patients at risk of developing RA to manage the risk through lifestyle changes.

A doctoral thesis at Karolinska Institutet has investigated whether Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) can be used for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The results show that the treatment can be carried out in both a school environment and in psychiatric outpatient care and can have an effect on, among other things, perceived stress.

Using gene expression data from different cell types in the inner ear and brain, researchers have been able to identify the cell types that mainly contribute to hearing loss. The findings confirm that hearing loss does not derive from the brain but from a distinct compartment in the cochlea, called the stria vascularis, which is the “powerhouse” of the inner ear. The study has been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Hi Pernilla Sönnerfors, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS. On June 17 you will defend your thesis ”eHealth support for physical activity and exercise training in people with COPD”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

The day before the UN’s Stockholm+50 international conference in early June, KI, Stockholm University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm Environment Institute are arranging a hybrid conference focusing on how scientists, academics and students can influence decision-makers and drive progress towards a sustainable society.

Heart progenitors spontaneously regenerate cardiac muscle via a tight junction “honeycomb” in salamanders. Whether there are endogenous adult heart progenitors that can replenish damaged muscle cells remained controversial.

Vaccines based on inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus are commonly used in resource-poor countries due to their low cost. New research from Karolinska Institutet shows that a booster shot of mRNA vaccine to individuals who have received two doses of inactivated vaccine offers the same level of protection against COVID-19 as three doses of mRNA vaccine. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

A new study shows that the menstrual phase has effects on the microbiome. “This will be very important for planning future studies, both in basic science and for interventions aiming to improve the vaginal microbiome”, corresponding author Ina Schuppe Koistinen at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell biology at Karolinska Institutet, says.

Six predictors could help determine the amount of lithium needed to treat patients with bipolar disorder, according to a large study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The study, published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry, also pinpoints genetic markers that seem to influence how quickly the body eliminates lithium from its system.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Germany’s Technical University of Munich (TUM) and AstraZeneca, among others, have identified a unique therapeutic approach with the potential to restore heart function following a heart attack. The new findings rely on so-called human ventricular progenitor (HVP) cells to promote novel heart tissue and reduce scarring after injury. This pre-clinical study is published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

A team of scientists including at Karolinska Institutet has used mini-kidneys simulating those of diabetic patients to further our understanding of the link between diabetes and COVID-19. The researchers found that diabetic mini-kidneys have a higher susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection than non-diabetic mini-kidneys. The study, which is published in the journal Cell Metabolism, also identified genetic evidence for the essential role of the ACE2 receptor in COVID-19.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have studied how the screen habits of US children correlate with how their cognitive abilities develop over time. They found that the children who spent an above-average time playing video games increased their intelligence more than the average, while TV watching or social media had neither a positive nor a negative effect. The results are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Screen time is often associated with poor health in young people, but it is more complicated than that, say researchers. We are affected, but differently and not just negatively. What we do on our phones – and what we do when we are not using them – also plays a role in our well-being.

Hi Richeng Jiang, PhD student at the Division of Neurogeriatrics, NVS. On May 30 you will defend your thesis ”Interplay between autophagy and amyloid beta metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

The pandemic still effects people around the world, but as restrictions are lifted, there are new challenges. At Karolinska Institutet, teachers are faced with hybrid teaching, researchers will return to previous research and students will find their way back to routines on campus. Here, they talk about the time before and during the pandemic and after restrictions were lifted.

The Doctoral Programme in Health Care Science (PUF-V) and the Research School in Health Science (FiH) recently welcomed Professor Andreas Gerber-Grote with colleagues and ten doctoral students from the School of Health Professions at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). The purpose of the visit was to discuss collaboration in different areas of doctoral education, and to increase opportunities for internationalization.

Professor David Lane at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in the USA.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet recently published a study in NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes, that describes the findings of an enzyme that breaks down lipids.

Hi Andrea Porserud, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS. On June 3 you will defend your thesis ”Taking physical rehabilitation after abdominal cancer surgery further – by enhanced recovery and physical activity”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Few physiotherapists provided rehabilitation services remotely to older adults or patients with neurological diseases during the pandemic, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in BMC Health Services Research. The result sheds light on the importance of strengthening the expertise regarding remote rehabilitation services among physiotherapists, and to develop user-friendly digital tools for rehabilitation.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped how the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi forms new variants that are more effective at evading the immune system and causing disease. Their findings can give rise to new methods for diagnosing, preventing and treating Chagas disease, which affects millions of people in Central and South America, causing thousands of deaths every year. The study is published in the journal eLife.

Hi Minh Tuan Hoang, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS. On May 25 you will defend your thesis ”Health Inequalities in care for persons with dementia”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

A team of researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University in Sweden found that oligodendrocytes, a cell type in the central nervous system known to be targeted in multiple sclerosis (MS), arise in the human brain earlier in development than mainly thought. The findings were published in the journal Developmental Cell.

The KI Lifestyle4Health “Best paper award 2022” is an initiative aimed to reward scientists in early stages of their career for outstanding work.

One of KI’s largest international collaborations is with Makerere University in Uganda. In time for Makerere’s 100th anniversary, the partnership is to manifest itself in a Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health. A delegation from KI travelled in May to Uganda to cement the relationship.

Congratulations to Christine Delisle Nyström, who has been appointed Assistant Professor and docent in Nutrition, and to Rongrong Fan, who has been appointed docent in Cell- and Molecular Biology!

On Monday, 2 May, KI-staff Dan Jibréus boarded a plane bound for North Dakota, and then on to Oklahoma. Two separate remains in specially built boxes were packed in the cargo space, which after several years of delay due to the pandemic, would now be returned.

Postdoctoral researcher Rajan Kumar Pandey has been awarded the Crafoord Prize research grant in polyarthritis.

The results of the alumni survey show that a large majority of alumni are satisfied with their education at KI, and would recommend KI to others.

Administrative news for staff and affiliates at the Department of Neuroscience (issue #1/2022).

A new study, published in Science, shows how self-inflicted DNA damage uniquely enables tumor cells to endure the genotoxic effects of radiation therapy, allowing them to survive and contribute to tumor reoccurrence. The findings highlight a cancer-specific survival mechanism that could be targeted and used to enhance the tumor cells’ vulnerability to genotoxic cancer treatments.

The conferment ceremony in Stockholm City Hall on 29 April celebrated Karolinska Institutet’s new doctors of medicine and honorary doctors HRH Prince Daniel, Dr Soumya Swaminathan and Professor Shinhiro Takeda. The ceremony was attended by HRH Crown Princess Victoria, the municipal council chairperson and the Indian and Japanese ambassadors, along with the proud supervisors and families of the new PhDs. The ceremony was infused with the importance of working together towards better health for al

Two of this year’s honorary doctors, HRH Prince Daniel and Soumya Swaminathan, took part in a seminar on sustainable health arranged by Karolinska Institutet on Friday 29 April. The discussions centred around prevention and long-term health.

Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of other illicit drug use as well as of anxiety and depression – at least among those who have used cannabis during the 2000s, according to a new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet. The results also show that cannabis-related diagnoses have gradually increased, especially in young adults and more commonly in men with less education, lower incomes and other psychiatric diseases.

A Distinguished Investigator Grant - Endocrinology and Metabolism 2022, from Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Research Leader Program, is awarded to Elisabet Stener- Victorin, professor and researcher at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology.
The project title is "Dissecting the molecular, mechanistic and causal pathways of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and how these are passed on across generations".

In a new study published in the journal Hepatology, a research group at Karolinska Institutet shows that people with fatty liver disease are expected to live almost three years shorter than the general population.

A study in rural Malawi underscores the need for better clinical management of severely ill children with very low blood sugar or blood oxygen levels. The study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the Parent and Child Health Initiative in Malawi, among others, found high mortality rates for children with either of these symptoms even when they were admitted to a hospital. The findings are published in the journal Bulletin of the World Health Organisation.

At midnight on April 19, the national application for university studies for the autumn semester 2022 closed. At that time, more than 22,000 had applied for Karolinska Institutet's undergraduate programmes. The most popular is the medical program followed by the undergraduate programmes in psychology, dentistry, and nursing.

In May, KI held a seminar on academic freedom and international collaborations. The event explored the question of how research is impacted by a world that is characterized by war, conflict and democratic decline. It is not enough to develop new guidelines; actions need to be based on personal responsibility, says KI President Ole Petter Ottersen.

Currently available therapies to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) lack precision and can lead to serious side effects. Researchers at KI have now developed a method for identifying the immune cells involved in autoimmune diseases, and have identified four new target molecules of potential significance for future personalised treatment of MS. The results, which are published in Science Advances, have been obtained in collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Region Stockholm.

A study from Karolinska Institutet and the Nordic cancer registries shows that cancer notification rates declined in the Nordic countries during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in April-May 2020 compared to previous years. In the fall of 2020, the cancer rates recovered in Denmark, Norway and Iceland, yet only partly in Sweden and Finland. In the Faroe Islands, the changes in cancer rates were not statistically significant. The study was published in International Journal of Cancer.