News archive

Bodil Lund is a dentist who is researching how the dental care services can help to stem antibiotic resistance by making more prudent use of antibiotics. Her work also includes the diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular (TMJ or jaw joint) problems.

Maja Jagodic studies how the disease MS arises and why it affects people so differently. Research at an epigenetic level is appropriate both for understanding the disease and for finding new ways to treat it, she says.

Ultrasound has evolved into a very powerful medical imaging technique. Elisabeth Epstein researches how it can improve diagnostics for gynaecological diseases, including cancer.

Patients who receive trauma therapy often have multiple fractures and other orthopaedic injuries, which in themselves can prove fatal. Anders Enocson is researching how orthopaedic surgery for these patients can be improved – from choice of surgical method to cooperation within the trauma team.

Neuroscientist Ola Hermanson aims to both understand the development of the healthy brain and lay the groundwork for improved treatments for serious diseases. He is also keen to drive technological developments in bioprinting, amongst other areas.

Anna Koman at the research group Endocrine Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend her thesis "Primary hyperparathyroidism: nonclassical symptoms and benefits of parathyroidectomy" on October 15th, 2021. Main Supervisor is Inga-Lena Nilsson.

The oral microbiome not only causes dental diseases, it also impacts on diseases elsewhere in the body. This is the focus of Margaret Sällberg Chen’s research, especially in relation to cancer.

Dr. Fang Fang, Professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM) at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded a grant of approximately 1.5 million US dollar for three years, from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), USA.

KI researchers Johan Lundin and Gunilla Karlsson-Hedestam receives research grant from the Erling-Persson Family Foundation, that supports projects in science, education, and development of children and young people.

In October, WHO and Karolinska Institutet arranged the first Rosling seminar on the theme "Health Equity and Pandemics – a Moonshot for Sustainable Health". It stressed that the path to sustainable health is through global cooperation and an international perspective where the focus is on the world's most vulnerable.

Three KI researchers have been awarded SSMF’s Large Grant, one of Sweden’s biggest grants for medical research. The researchers are allocated grants for four years of part- or full-time research with the goal of establishing an independent scientific career. This year the foundation received 153 applications, of which eight were granted.

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry rewards Benjamin List and David MacMillan for a new and ingenious tool for building molecules, asymmetric organocatalysis, which has contributed to more environmentally friendly chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Here, KI researcher Per I Arvidsson, Head of the Drug Discovery and Development Platform at SciLifeLab, comments on the discovery. He was one of those who introduced organocatalysis in Sweden and believes that the prize was expected.

Davide Vetrano has received a 2 MSEK Junior Scholar Grant from the Strategic Research Area in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (SFOepi) for the project “Biomarker signatures of the multimorbidity-frailty continuum: in pursuit of personalized medicine for older adults.”

During the pandemic, it has become evident that people with cardiovascular disease and obesity are at much higher risk of developing very severe, even fatal COVID-19 disease. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified some metabolic processes that SARS-CoV-2 uses to attack lung tissue. The results, which are published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, could one day be used to treat COVID-19, and potentially for other viruses like the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and HIV-1.

KI researchers receive 164 808 40 SEK in Forte's yearly call within the areas of responsibility: health, working life and welfare. In total, 32 projects, programmes and networks at KI recieve funding.

Dr Nicolas Pejovic has been awarded this year’s Rolf Zetterstöm prize for best thesis in pediatrics. The award was presented at Karolinska Institutet during Barnveckan. In his doctoral thesis No cry at birth. Neaonatal resuscitation in low resource setting: role of the laryngeal mask airway, Dr Pejovic investigates how midwives in low-resource settings could safely resuscitate newborns more effectively using a laryngeal mask instead of a conventional facemask.

A scientist at Karolinska Institutet reports that machine learning can be used to gain insights into molecular events that change the shape of proteins after they are made, regulating their ability to interact with each other. This suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) may allow us, in the future, to accurately simulate highly complex biological scenarios in silico as well as leverage this information for therapeutic intervention.

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is about how people can feel temperature and touch. The discoveries explain basic functions in our lives and have opened doors to new treatments for pain, for example. We take it for granted, the fact that we can feel an icy wind, a hot plate or a hug, but how this actually works was unknown until it was discovered by the Nobel Laureates, a discovery made not so long ago.

As of 7 October it is no longer possible to use account.ki.se to change the password to your student account. Instead you should go to myaccount.microsoft.com and update the password with the help of your Office365 login credentials.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have participated in a large international research project that has identified all cell types in the motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls movement. The research has resulted in a detailed cell atlas presented in a large special package of scientific articles in Nature today. The long-term goal of the collaboration is to create a cell atlas of the whole brain in order to increase knowledge of brain diseases and contribute to better treatments.

Scientists hope that tiny sacs of material excreted by cells – so-called extracellular vesicles – can be used to deliver drugs inside the body. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now show that these nano-bubbles can transport protein drugs that reduce inflammation caused by different diseases. The technique, which is presented in Nature Biomedical Engineering, shows promising results in animal models.

At the end of September, a seminar tilted “How can we prepare ourselves for the next health crisis?” was held at KI with an expert panel including representatives of the Swedish Public Health Agency, the National Board of Health and Welfare and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. Anders Nordström, the Swedish Ambassador for Global Health and Secretary of the WHO’s Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR), spoke on the WHO report “COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic”.

Christer Betsholtz, professor at the Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the major Nordic Prize for 2021 by the Eric K. Fernström Foundation. He receives one million SEK for his research into blood-vessel cells and their vascular structure and function.

BioNut researcher has received SEK 4.6 million in research grant from FORTE for a project on “Effects of increased ultra-processed food advertisement (outdoors and digital) exposure on behaviours associated with obesity development in Swedish adolescents, evaluated in a socioeconomic context.”

NVS congratulates them all!

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have examined long-term outcomes in patients who received pacemaker implantations after transcatheter aortic valve replacement through their groin. The result showed no significant difference in mortality for the patients with pacemakers compared to those without. The study is published in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

It is well known that obesity affects the body's insulin production and over time risks leading to type 2 diabetes and several other metabolic diseases. Now researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found further explanation for why fat cells cause metabolic morbidity. The study, published in Nature Medicine, may have an impact on the treatment of comorbidity in obesity with already available drugs.

The Swedish Society of Medicine honors Agneta Nordberg, professor in clinical neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet, with the Bengt Winblad Prize 2021.

Several substantial appropriations have been awarded to KI through the Swedish Research Council’s national research infrastructure initiative.
The Swedish Twin Registry (STR), Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS) and the National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) were all awarded funding through the Research Council.

Evaluating options and making decisions are two of the brain’s most fundamental functions in all animals. Konstantinos Meletis studies brain processes, using new technologies to understand how this works.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 has been awarded jointly to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.”

The Department of Global Public Health, in collaboration with the Center for Epidemiology and Community Medicine, invites to the upcoming lecture in the Stockholm Public Health Lectures series 20 October. The topic of the lecture is evidence on COVID-19 response measures.

Hello Ola Rosling, who will participate in the first annual seminar this 6 October, held in the spirit of Hans Rosling. The seminar and panel discussion will centre around global health. What do you think Hans Rosling would have to say about the current pandemic?

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

The Department of Dental Medicine congratulates Mirjam Majster on the NOF Hatton award. She was awarded the prize at the CED-IADR / NOF Oral health congress 2021.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have compared how well different Alzheimer’s biomarkers predict the progression of the disease and its effect on the memory. They found that early accumulation of tau proteins in the brain as measured by PET scanner was more effective at predicting memory impairment than biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid or amyloid plaque in the brain. The results are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

We are happy to announce that the National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) received the renewal of the research infrastructure grant by the Swedish Research Council (VR) for the period 2023-2028.

Professor Juleen R. Zierath receives the 2021 prestigious EASD Claude Bernard Award. This award recognizes an individual’s innovative leadership and lifetime achievements in diabetes research and is the EASD’s highest award.

FromOctober 1, you will no longer have to pre-book your visit.

The government is set to invest through the innovation authority Vinnova another SEK 96 million on Genomic Medicine Sweden (GMS), a national organisation led from Karolinska Institutet. Regions and universities are also putting up SEK 124 million, making a total of SEK 220 million that will make it possible to continue introducing precision medicine into Swedish healthcare.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed an AI-based tool that improves the diagnosis of breast cancer tumours and the ability to predict the risk of recurrence. The greater diagnostic precision can lead to more personalised treatment for the large group of breast cancer patients with intermediate risk tumours. The results are published in the scientific journal Annals of Oncology.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a protein that improves muscular metabolism, motor coordination and exercise performance in mice. The findings, published in Cell Metabolism, could be of therapeutic value for patients with muscle and neurological diseases, such as ALS.

Vinnova is investing in eleven innovation environments in precision health that will pave the way to more preventive, accurate healthcare with greater equity, while helping Sweden strengthen its position as a leading life science nation. Of the eleven innovation environments selected, three are at Karolinska Institutet.

In a new report, the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm examined how suicide rates have changed in Sweden in 2020. 

Patients with bipolar disorder who experience manic episodes are more likely to show abnormal brain changes over time, according to one of the largest longitudinal brain imaging studies in its field to date. The study, led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and University of Gothenburg in Sweden, also confirms links between bipolar disorder and accelerated brain ventricle enlargement. The findings are published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Starting on 30 September, you need to use Microsoft’s Outlook app to be able to access your student email account directly on your smartphone or tablet. This change also affects you who read your student email on your computer via an email desktop client other than Microsoft Outlook. However, in case you can’t or don’t want to use the Outlook app, it will still be possible for you to forward your student email to your private email account or open your student email in your web browser.

On Thursday 7 October, starting after 7 pm, an update will be made of ki.se incl. utbildning/education.ki.se, medarbetare/staff.ki.se and nyheter/news.ki.se and kise-drupalkurs.ki.se. The websites will NOT be accessible to visitors during the update.

Karolinska Institutet is carrying out a research study to evaluate whether the opening of Campus has an effect on the spread of COVID-19. Students, teachers and staff at KI are welcome to participate.

Four questions to FyFa employees Rebecka Jakobsson, HR-partner and Duarte Ferreira, Assistant professor, about their experiences participating in FyFa Health Challange.

Karolina Kauppi, researcher in medical biology, and Janina Seubert, researcher in psychology at Karolinska Institutet have been elected to the Young Academy of Sweden, an organisation that brings together younger, leading researchers from all fields and all parts of the country.