News archive

Traumatic experiences such as assault or a road accident can give rise to nightmares, flashbacks and other mental reactions, and accessible therapy is needed to prevent exacerbation of the problems. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now completed what could be the largest evaluation to date of internet-delivered trauma-focused CBT (iCBT-T) for people who have recently experienced trauma. The study, which is published in Psychological Medicine, shows promising results.

Hi Karin Björklund, PhD student at the Division on Family Medicine and Primary Care. On October 15 you will defend your thesis ‘Students’ workplace learning in primary health care: learning from patients’, what’s the main focus of the thesis?

Postural hypotension, a drastic drop in blood pressure when standing up, is linked to an increased risk of dementia and accelerated progression from cognitive impairment to dementia, even in the absence of symptoms, for instance when feeling dizzy or faint. In a study published in the journal Hypertension, researchers from Karolinska Institutet show that postural hypotension could anticipate worse cognition in old age.

Karolinska Institutet has the ambition to establish a central back-office to support researchers in their partnering with industry. To realize this ambition, the External Engagement Office will be launching a one-year project designed to create the best possible foundation for this future support function.

Birth by caesarean section is weakly associated with a lower general cognitive ability in young adult males. However, the magnitude of this association is not clinically relevant. This is according to a study at Karolinska Institutet, published in the Evidence-Based Mental Health. The lower general cognitive ability also seems to be largely explained by familial factors shared between siblings instead of mode of delivery, the study found.

It is now possible for students and staff at Karolinska Institutet (KI) to visit the Karolinska University Hospital's vaccination clinics in Solna and Flemingsberg to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Young people are at risk of falling seriously unwell with tuberculosis and spreading the disease. Therefore, researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among others, have mapped key factors that affect the treatment outcomes in 10- to 24-year-olds with tuberculosis in Brazil, where the disease is increasing. To deal with the global tuberculosis epidemic, researchers say that greater focus is needed on this age group in tuberculosis programs. The study is published in The Lancet Global Health.

Our bodies can fine-tune the immune response to an infection and make it proportional to the threat at hand. New research from Karolinska Institutet describes how B lymphocytes, the immune cells that make antibodies, choose between different cell fates to balance the magnitude of the acute immune response and the memory response that protects against future threats. The study, published in Immunity, may contribute to the optimisation of vaccines to fight viruses or other pathogens.

Have you noticed that more student-related content has appeared on Karolinska Institutet's official Instagram lately? KI has recruited students from the national programs to share their experience on the account @Karolinskainstitutet.

Academics from all 18 higher education institutions in Stockholm have been invited to discuss future global challenges from new perspectives, extending past the traditional academic boundaries at the Stockholm Explorative Talks on 23 september 2021 at the Royal College of Music (KMH) in Stockholm.

Docent Sara Hägg, together with a multidisciplinary team of KI researcher, has been awarded an NIH Prime Grant for their research on repurposing drugs for the primary prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. The grant is for three years with the option to apply for additional two years.

Malin Nygren-Bonnier, docent and senior lecturer at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hosptial has been awarded Physiotherapist of the Year 2021, by the Swedish Association of Physiotherapists. She is honored for her work with rehabilitation after COVID-19.

Only a minority of Swedes with alcohol use disorders are prescribed alcohol medication, a situation that has remained largely unchanged in the country since the mid-2000. That is according to a study at Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Prescriptions of alcohol medication are also unevenly distributed in the society, the study found.

A large study at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has found a link between ADHD and dementia across generations. The study, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, shows that parents and grandparents of individuals with ADHD were at higher risk of dementia than those with children and grandchildren without ADHD.

Eivind Gottlieb-Vedi at the research group Upper GI Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Improved surgical treatment of oesophageal cancer" on September 10th, 2021. Main Supervisor is Professor Jesper Lagergren.

September 6 was the start of the new Research School in Health Science (FiH), which is a continuation of the earlier Research School in Health Care Science.

On August 27th, new international students, students at the global programs, and exchange students at Karolinska Institutet were invited to a Digital Introduction Ceremony which was broadcast live from Aula Medica in Solna.

The Nature Communications Editors’ Highlights webpage showcases a small number of articles recently published in the journal that the editors believe are particularly interesting or important, on Multidisciplinary, Life Science and Physical Sciences research.

Prolonged exposure to air pollution can be linked to an increased risk of stroke and coronary heart disease, even when levels are below the limits specified by the EU and WHO. This has been shown, among others, by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Helmholtz Zentrum München in a large European study published in The Lancet Planetary Health.

On 8 September, the German President, H.E. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf visited Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital.

Unfortunately, there have been a number of thefts both from the bicycle garage and from other places in Biomedicum during the past month.
We therefore ask you to think about locking your bikes and electric scooters properly, to not leave any valuables in the open, and
call the Biomedicum security guard if you see anything suspicious or someone unauthorized in the building.

After several years of planning and construction, 316 new apartments are now ready for researchers and students at KI to move into. Collins Santhansamy is one of the newly arrived students at KI Residence Solna.

In this consensus article, Federico Pietrocola, at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, KI, and colleagues explore the pathophysiological relevance of autophagy in human illnesses, while highlighting the therapeutic potential of autophagy-centred strategies in the clinic. This article represents a remarkable collective effort by the international autophagy community, serving a guide for basic and clinical scientists to get more insights on this fascinating process.

Neuroblastoma is a type of childhood cancer that develops in infants and young children. Whilst it is a relatively rare form of cancer, it is still responsible for approximately 15 percent of all cancer deaths in children. In a new study published today in Nature Communications, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that low-risk and high-risk neuroblastoma have different cell identities, which can affect the survival rate.

We are looking for you, who want to coordinate the pick‐up service i.e. giving international students a good first welcome to KI!

The Animal Rights Alliance (Djurrättsalliansen) is currently running a campaign to “retire” five monkeys used for research at KI. The campaign includes appeals on social media and distribution of leaflets on the Solna campus. KI uses monkeys for medical research, such as that conducted for vaccine development, when no other options are available.

Due to the difficult situation in Afghanistan, Karolinska Institutet is now starting a fundraiser to provide Afghan researchers with the opportunity to conduct their research at KI. This is being done through a collaboration with the Scholars at Risk (SAR) network.

For the spring term 2022, the alternative selection for the medical programme (PIL), which has been cancelled for the past three terms due to the corona pandemic, is being reintroduced. However, the number admitted via PIL will be lower compared to a typical admissions cycle.

Gonçalo Castelo-Branco at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB) at Karolinska Institutet, receives the 2021 Eric K. Fernström prize for young, especially promising and successful researchers, for his significant research in the oligodendrocyte/myelin field and multiple sclerosis.
Note that the prize 2020 was advanced to 2021.

This year’s Grand Silver Medals are awarded to professors Gunnar Grant and Rune Toftgård. The medal recognises excellence in support of Karolinska Institutet and is awarded during the installation ceremony in Aula Medica on October 14.

The Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old – SWEOLD – was conducted for the first time in 1992. The aim was, and still is, to investigate what the living conditions of the population over 75 years of age look like in today's Sweden and what changes have taken place in recent years. The researchers behind the study can now describe developments over the past 30 years, a period during which there have been clear changes in welfare.

Screening for atrial fibrillation in 75- and 76-year-olds could reduce the risk of stroke, severe bleeding and death, according to a study at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden that has been published in the journal The Lancet.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden can now report the results of a unique pilot project where drones were used to deliver defibrillators to real-life alerts of suspected cardiac arrest. The drones were dispatched in more than a fifth of the emergencies and arrived on target and ahead of the ambulance in most cases. The results are published in the European Heart Journal and presented today at the European Society of Cardiology congress.

Hi there, Ceren Emre, PhD student at the Division of Neurogeriatrics! On September 1 you will defend your thesis ”Resolving inflammation - analysis of mechanisms in relation to Alzheimer pathology and aging”. What is the main focus of your thesis?

High-throughput omics technology has revolutionized biological and biomedical research and large volumes of omics data have been produced. For this, computational tools to manage and analyze the omics data have been developed and there are big challenges in how to process and interpret the omics data in the best way. Wenjiang Deng has worked to develop novel statistical methodologies and algorithms for omics data analysis, using both simulated and real cancer data to test the methods.

Emma Andersson, senior researcher at the department of Cell and Molecular Biology, and Karin Mangold, PhD student, have recently published an article in Cell Reports Methods in which they developed a new technique to reduce the use of mice and to get faster results.

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis sometimes suffer from the growth of polyps in the nasal cavity. These polyps are difficult to treat and often require surgical intervention. Even after removal by surgery, polyps can return and present a significant health burden for patients.

In a week, the autumn term will begin and Karolinska Institutet welcomes back both new and returning students to campus.

Andreas Jangmo has looked at Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is a common childhood-onset developmental disorder in some 5-7% of all children, to find out more about the outcomes later in life. He has focused on school performance and occupational outcomes. He has also studied how school performance is affected by pharmacological treatment, and how educational attainment (e.g., university completion) affects occupational outcomes.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified eight primary factors that increase the risk of a common bleeding complication after heart attack. Some of these factors are already known, but using machine learning techniques, the researchers have found additional predictors, such as smoking, blood pressure and blood glucose.

Assistant professor Nicolas Pillon at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, has been awarded the prestigious Novo Nordisk Foundation Future Leaders Award from the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD).

In a nationwide study of more than 44,000 patients with celiac disease and 412,000 individuals with a normal small intestinal mucosa, researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Calgary University in Canada, Columbia University and the Mayo Clinic in the Unites States, examined the incidence of celiac disease over a 25-year-period and the role of celiac disease awareness. The findings have now been published in the journal Gut.

In the overall, annual ranking of the world universities in ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities – also called the Shanghai ranking), published in mid-August, Karolinska Institutet ranks at position 42 (45 the year before).

Fyfa professor Magnus Ingelman- Sundberg has been appointed honorary doctor at the University of Southern Denmark.

Assistant Professor Rongrong Fan at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition is among the 4 grantees in Europe who have received 5 million DKK for 5 years from the EFSD / Novo Nordisk Future Leaders Award program in 2021. This highly competitive grant supports young and promising researchers of excellence who wish to further develop their career in Europe to investigate the mechanisms of diabetes.

Thomas Hatschek, Associate Professor at the department of Oncology-Pathology together with colleagues has recently published an article in JAMA Oncology where they show that a new treatment for breast cancer with an antibody linked to a cytotoxic drug is as good as the previous combination, but with less side effects.

Welcome to the second edition of Stockholm Skillbridge, the case competition where Sweden's top-tier schools within medicine, communication, engineering, and economics solve problems together.

Assistant Professors Nicolas Pillon at Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Rongrong Fan at Department of Biosciences and Nutrition have both been awarded the 2021 Future Leaders Award by EFSD (European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes)/Novo Nordisk Foundation. This is a competitive 5-year grant to support PIs to become future leaders in diabetes research.

Congratulations to Marco Gerling, Andreas Lennartsson and Staffan Strömblad at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition (BioNut), who have received the Translational Seed Funding grant / Blue Sky Research grant from Cancer Research KI.

This year Ulf von Euler lecture; "Molecular genetic studies of central nervous system vascular development and disease" is held by Professor Jeremy Nathans, Professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience and ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD. USA). He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.