News archive

During the beginning of the autumn semester, KI-students will receive an important survey in their inbox. It is a survey on equal opportunities for students that is sent out with the aim to further develop KI's preventive work against discrimination.

As of August 2022 Christina Johansson is new head of administration at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology (FyFa). Christina has worked in various roles and departments at KI since 2015, most recently as head of administration at the Unit for Teaching and Learning (UoL).

In Sweden, the key to the successful implementation of precision medicine in healthcare has been the bottom-up approach where academia and healthcare have joined forces to build a national infrastructure. 42 authors from the Clinical Genomics platform at SciLifeLab and Genomic Medicine Sweden, GMS, summarizes the work in Nature Medicine.

The Hans Wigzell Research Foundation (Hans Wigzells Forskningsstiftelse) awards its annual scientific prize to Professor Gonçalo Castelo-Branco. He receives the prize of SEK 925,000 for his important research around oligodendrocytes – a cell type which plays important roles in relation to how the human brain develops and functions.

Lower immunity and recurring infections are common in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now show that the immune system of people with diabetes has lower levels of the antimicrobial peptide psoriasin, which compromises the urinary bladder’s cell barrier, increasing the risk of urinary tract infection. The study is published in Nature Communications.

The way the healthcare is organized determines the conditions for conducting and implementing clinical research. In Region Stockholm, the healthcare organization has changed substantially over the past decade due to political decisions, and we do not yet know what the new regional management will look like after this year's elections nor how it will change the healthcare organization.

Early intervention with rituximab, a drug used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), can reduce the risk of deterioration in myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that causes loss of muscle control. This is according to a randomised clinical study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and published in the journal JAMA Neurology.

Children with certain immunodeficiency diseases carry mutations in genes that regulate the body’s immune system against viral infections and they have a higher mortality rate due to COVID-19. This is according to a study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

A synthetic prophylactic gel derived from cow mucins was in cellular lab tests 70 percent effective in preventing infection with HIV, and 80 percent effective against herpes, researchers from Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology show in a new a study in Advanced Science.

Infections treated with specialty hospital care in early- and mid-life are associated with an increased subsequent risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, but not amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to a study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet, published in PLOS Medicine.

Jonas Fuxe has been appointed Head of the Department of Laboratory Medicine, starting on January 1, 2023.

Hi there, Marguerita Saadeh, PhD student at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "Enjoying life and living healthier: impact of behavioral and psychosocial factors on physical function in old age" on 22 September 2022. Tell us, what is the main focus of your thesis?

Adults with ADHD are at greater risk of developing a range of cardiovascular diseases than those without the condition, according to a large observational study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Örebro University. The researchers say the findings, published in the journal World Psychiatry, underscore the need to monitor cardiovascular health in people with ADHD.

High levels of mucosal antibodies in the airways reduce the risk of being infected by omicron, but many do not receive detectable antibodies in the airways despite three doses of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. These are the findings of a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital.

On 10 September, the second promotional ceremony of the year was held in Stockholm City Hall. 164 new doctors received their hats and diplomas as they were celebrated for achieving the highest academic degree, many of them after a long wait due to the pandemic. The number of doctors conferred at this weekend’s ceremony was therefore at a record high.

Professor Göran K. Hansson has been awarded the European Society of Cardiology's gold medal. He is honored for his research efforts and, above all, for his discoveries on the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease. The gold medal is the society's premier award and is awarded for outstanding contributions to cardiovascular medicine and was awarded at the congress in Barcelona.

Three researchers at the Department of Biosciences and Nutriton, Karolinska Institutet, have received grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for their research, 2022.

This MOOC offers a number of creative digital resources to enable the integration of refugees into the European Union health culture.

StratNeuro has awarded SEK 2,000,000 in start-up grants to 4 international researchers who are establishing their groups at Karolinska Institutet, after receiving faculty-funded Assistant Professor (“biträdande lekor”) positions.

EU-OPENSCREEN is a European network that provides infrastructure for high-capacity screening in chemical biology and early identification of drug candidates. As of July 2022, Sweden is represented in the network, through the Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) at Karolinska Institutet, one of two selected Swedish nodes.

A study led by Karolinska Institutet shows that it often takes weeks for patients with heart failure to be prescribed the recommended treatments, especially relatively new drugs such as dapagliflozin and sacubitril/valsartan. According to the researchers, the results are troubling as these treatments reduce the risk of death and heart failure hospitalization, and improve the patients’ life quality. The study is published in the journal JACC: Heart Failure.

Conflict causes deaths and injuries, as well as health consequences from the displacement of populations, breakdown of health services and an increased risk of disease transmission. But in DRC that has suffered from conflict and instability for decades, conflict alone is a poor indicator for child health. In his study, Mattias Schedwin, compares coverage of key child health policy indicators across provinces in DRC and their association with child mortality and level of conflict in the country.

To kick off the new academic year, the Global Child Health and Sustainable Development Goals team met at Carlshälls Gård on Långholmen for our annual retreat. The day started with inspiring presentations by Mariam Claeson and Hang Tran, followed by group discussions and team building excercises. After lunch att Carlshälls restaurant, the day ended with a kayaking tour around Långholmen.

Deep grief has both mental and physical health consequences for the sufferer that can take decades to heal. People can even die of grief. It is therefore important to try to alleviate the effects of severe grief, something that we in Sweden aren’t particularly good at.

Karolinska Institutet has signed a collaboration agreement with the European research infrastructure EBRAINS, which offers digital tools and services for research into the brain. The purpose of this agreement is to give KI's researchers access to new digital technology and state-of-the-art resources, as well as the opportunity to contribute to the further development of the area of neuroscience within the EU.

Research at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the Swedish Armed Forces and NATO could lead to more people surviving gun violence and provide answers on how to stop severe bleeding.

“Dementia from Cell to Society is a new course developed by KI together with Stiftelsen Silviahemmet. It is the first course of its kind to give a multi-professional perspective on dementia, and an opportunity to understand oral health and communicative function from different views”, said KI President Ole Petter Ottersen in his speech at the diploma ceremony at the Drottningholms Slottsteater.

The autumn semester is in full swing and once again Karolinska Institutet's campuses are full of life. The two student unions, Medicinska Föreningen and Odontologiska Föreningen are excited to be able to meet students again.

Regular exercise helps prevent and delay the development of type 2 diabetes and its complications. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have, together with a team of international scientists, discovered that activation of the immune system in skeletal muscle during exercise may underlie the difference in how individuals with type 2 diabetes perceive and respond to exercise. These findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

Infections in pregnant women have been linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism, in the child later in life. But it does not seem to be the infections themselves that cause autism, researchers from Karolinska Institutet show in a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

The University Board (Konsistoriet) held an extraordinary meeting Tuesday on the recruitment of Karolinska Institutet’s new president. The shortlisted candidates – Professor Annika Östman Wernerson (KI) and Professor Eva Tiensuu Janson (Uppsala University) – will now be interviewed by the Consultative College.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet shows in a new study that genome sequencing is a sensitive first-line test to diagnose individuals with intellectual disability. These findings are published in Genetics in Medicine, the official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, ACMG.

Sweden initially chose a different disease prevention and control path during the pandemic than many other European countries. In June 2020, the Swedish Government established a national Commission to examine the management of COVID-19 in Sweden. In a review, Professor Jonas F Ludvigsson summarizes and comments on the findings of the commission inquiry. The review is published in Acta Paediatrica.

A new study published in The Lancet shows that medical abortion can be carried out both safely and effectively via telemedicine, without a routine ultrasound examination. The study, which is a collaboration between researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Cape Town in South Africa, highlights the opportunities to provide safe and effective abortion services in low-resource settings.

In a recently published article in the journal Trends in Microbiology, author Alberto J. Martin-Rodriguez, Senior Research Specialist at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet, explains how he found that distinct bacterial strains selectively use respiration for surface colonization.

Adam Williamson at Karolinska Institutet has received a European Research Council Proof of Concept (ERC PoC) 2022 grant, which is aimed at researchers who already have funding from the ERC and want to further develop the innovative potential of their discoveries.

In a new publication in Nature communications, Martin Rottenberg and Ruining Liu, professor and PhD student at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cellbiology, explains how T cell protection against Tuberculosis is controlled by their oxygen responses.

Carin Lennartsson, Director and researcher at the Aging Research Center (ARC), a collaboration between Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet, is interviewed in KI's podcast Medicinvetarna #100, where the topic is about 100-year-olds.

Research on new methods of treating weapon-related injuries is being conducted at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the Swedish Armed Forces and NATO. The goal: To reduce the risk of serious injury and death.

Having a baby at an early age is fraught with risk. Advice from other teenagers can be one way of increasing the use of contraceptives amongst refugee girls in Uganda.

Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology is awarded with the R.T. Williams Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award 2022. In recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions in the field of drug research.

A master thesis supervised by the Division of Transplantation Surgery was named Highly Commended in the Medical Science category at The Global Undergraduate Awards 2022

In a recent study researchers from Karolinska Institutet, among others, have characterised the new omicron variant BA.2.75, comparing its ability to evade antibodies against current and previous variants. The study, published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggests that BA.2.75 is not more resistant to antibodies than the currently dominating BA.5, which is positive news.

The fall term of 2022 started 29 August and most of the accepted students have arrived in Stockholm. We are very happy to see new international students on campus!

Honoring the renowned Swedish diabetes scientist Rolf Luft, SRP Diabetes wishes to support the most excellent younger Principal Investigators (consolidator level) in the field of diabetes and metabolism at Karolinska Institutet to obtain critical instrumentation for their research.
Deadline to apply: October 1

Congratulations to Professor Jan Zedenius who has been elected President of the International Association of Endocrine Surgeons, IAES. IAES is an integrated society of the International Society of Surgery ISS/SIC and the inauguration ceremony was held at the International Surgical Week in Vienna on August 16, 2022.

Hi Therese Johansson, PhD-student at the Division of Nursing. On September 9 you will defend your thesis ”A 'new public health' perspective on building competence for end-of-life care and communication : how death literacy can be developed and measured”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

People with long-term neuropathic pain took significantly fewer sick days from work after treatment with spinal cord stimulation, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet published in the journal PAIN. The findings suggest that the treatment has the potential to increase life quality for chronic pain patients and reduce costs to society, the researchers say.

Using a novel 3D imaging technology, researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among others, have been able to comprehensively characterize a part of the brain that shows perhaps the earliest accumulation of tau protein, an important biomarker for the development of Alzheimer's disease. The results, published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, may make it possible in the future to have a more precise neuropathological diagnosis of the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum at a very early stage.

Ulrica Nilsson is a professor in nursing at NVS, and a specialist nurse in anesthesiology. She also currently serves as deputy director of doctoral education at the department. Ulrica is proud and honored to have been elected to the prestigious organization.