News archive

By screening hundreds of synthetic antibodies, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and EMBL Hamburg in Germany have identified an antibody that may prevent the new coronavirus from infecting human cells. The study, which is published in the journal Nature Communications, also shows how antibodies can be quickly produced in the event of future pandemics.

Agneta Nordberg, professor at the Division of Clinical Gertiatrics, NVS, is awarded ”2020 Grand Prix for research on Alzheimer disease” by Recherche Alzheimer Fondation at Sorbonne Université, Paris.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and the University of California have uncovered the role of a polysynaptic pathway that links cholinergic neurons together. The study was recently published in Nature Communications.

Geriatrikboken is a new practical book in Swedish with a broad geriatric perspective on aging and health care for the elderly.

While proteins on the surface of cells are the targets for most drugs, refined methods are needed to analyse how these membrane proteins are organised. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new DNA-based analytical method that could contribute to the development of future drugs for breast and other cancers. The study is published in Nature Nanotechnology.

KI holds its position in the Times Higher Education World university rankings by subject 2021, published on 28 October 2020.

A new paper shows that differences in plasma protein biomarker levels are controlled by hundreds of genetic variants across the human genome, and that these insights can be used to predict which drug targets that are likely to be effective future medicines. The study has been published in the October issue of Nature Metabolism.

The Division of Innovative Care Research has been very successful in receiving funding from SFO-V (Strategic Research Area Health Care Science), with four of the seven awarded grants going to the research group.

Both eczema and psoriasis are inflammatory skin diseases that affect many individuals. Now, researchers from Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have made progress in mapping new candidate genes for these hereditary skin diseases. This may in the long run open up new ways of treating the diseases. The findings are published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Christina Samuelsson has been appointed professor of speech and language pathology (SLP) at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, CLINTEC combined with a position as speech language pathologist at Medical Unit SLP, Karolinska University Hospital.

The professorship is primarily financed by direct government funding and FoU, and currently has a main focus on acquired communicative disabilities in adults.

Matilda Ernkrans, minister for Higher Education and Research, visited KI on 23 October. She met students, faculty, researchers and the university management, who described how they had adapted to the ongoing pandemic.

The Blue Sky Grant for Innovative Cancer Research is a one-year grant, providing SEK 500 000, to support projects aimed at exploring new research territories and demonstrating proof of principle. This year the internal organisation Cancer Research KI has awarded six Blue Sky grants, three of them to researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB).

Summary of publication in CID by Helena Bergsten et al.

“An important finding of the study was that any type of parental mental illness strongly increased the risk of childhood socioeconomic adversity.” says Kyriaki Kosidou, researcher at KI and corresponding author of the newly published article about parental mental illness and its association with socioeconomic adversity among children in Sweden.

Charlotte Rolny’s and Ola Larsson’s research teams at the Department of Oncology-Pathology has published an article in PNAS.

In her thesis, Camilla Wiklund aims to extend the knowledge about the relationship among body mass index (BMI), gastrointestinal complaints, and diet, and how these factors contribute to the emergence and maintenance of eating disorders.

People with cancer who exercise generally have a better prognosis than inactive patients. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found a likely explanation of why exercise helps slow down cancer growth in mice: Physical activity changes the metabolism of the immune system’s cytotoxic T cells and thereby improves their ability to attack cancer cells. The study is published in the journal eLife.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital have studied the risk of additional myocardial infarctions and early death in severely obese patients who undergo metabolic surgery following a myocardial event. The registry study covering 1,018 individuals shows a lower risk of additional myocardial infarctions and improved survival that cannot be simply attributed to the loss of weight. The study is published in the journal Circulation.

In a new study published in the journal Cell Death & Differentiation researchers at Karolinska Institutet have conducted a translational study that identified a new mechanism for controlling the breakdown of glucose in several different cancer forms. The discovery could lead to new therapeutic strategies aimed to reduce cancer growth.

Hi Xin Li, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (NVS). On October 28 you will defend your thesis “The relation between aging, dopamine-regulating genes, and neurocognition”. What’s the main focus of the thesis?

Martin Enge’s research group at the department of Oncology-Pathology has developed a new method for joint analysis of a cell’s state and accumulated genetic variation in single cells, applied to childhood leukemias and other cancers. The article is published in the journal Molecular Cell, October 16th.

Among women participating in cervical cancer screening in Sweden, those with a diagnosis of invasive cervical cancer had an increased risk of iatrogenic injuries (as a consequence of medical intervention) and non-iatrogenic injuries (caused by accidents and self-harm) requiring hospitalization, according to results published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

A diary containing the final entries by polar adventurer Andrée is now to be subjected for the first time to analysis using modern techniques. It is hoped this will solve once and for all the mystery of what caused the deaths of the expedition members on an island in the Arctic Ocean in 1897.
“We’re getting lots of new information, it’s really exciting,” says Bea Uusma, who is leading the project at Medical History and Heritage, Karolinska Institutet.

Andres Salumets has been appointed as Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the Division of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology - CLINTEC.

The chair was established with a generous grant from a Swedish Company - Vitrolife (10 MSEK/5 years) and will be co-financed by the Center for Innovative Medicine - CIMED.

A year has passed now since Karolinska Institutet, the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Stockholm University formed the university alliance Stockholm trio. Together, the three academic institutions seek to develop and promote the international research and education environment of the Stockholm region, and will establish a joint office in Brussels. Veteran of the EU scene, Dan Andrée is now laying the foundations of the office.

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) launches a new research initiative and donates SEK 3.1 billion over 12 years to support data-driven life science and SEK 600 million to extend the existing funding to Science for Life Laboratory and to the Wallenberg Centers for Molecular Medicine. Many new research positions will be established.

The Tobias Foundation grant in 2020 has been awarded to Magnus Tobiasson and Eva Hellström Lindberg, both researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The grant amounts to SEK 10 million over a five-year period. It will support research on early detection of relapse after stem cell transplantation for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.

A comprehensive comparison of cancer survival between the Nordic countries shows improvements for all countries over time with previously observed differences attenuated. The reasons for these improvements are likely multifactorial. Previous studies comparing cancer survival between the Nordic countries have found marked differences, with a notably poorer survival in Danish patients.

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) gradually develop increasing functional impairment. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now found a possible explanation for the progressive course of the disease in mice and how it can be reversed. The study, which is published in Science Immunology, can prove valuable to future treatments.

Hi Helena Hildenwall, one of the authors of the publication and member of the Global Child Health and SDG’s research group at the Department of Global Public Health. What are the most important results of your study?

Causal inference is important in medical research to help determine if treatments are beneficial and if natural exposures are harmful. In many settings, data collection makes causal inference difficult without making overly optimistic or idealistic assumptions. In a new article published in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, researchers at Karolinska Institutet develop new statistical methods to make causal inference possible in some settings without making such assumptions.

On Monday 12 October, the Stockholm County Administrative Board arranged a programme of royal visits to see how the local health authority is handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Their first stop was Karolinska Institutet.

Guidelines for treatment are often established based on drug development and research performed in relation to the Western world. Eleni Aklillu wants to contribute to the appropriate use of drugs adapted for conditions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Hi Helena Cleeve, PhD student at the Division of Occupational Therapy (NVS). On November 6 you will defend your thesis “Mundane mattering : how materialities come to matter in everyday life in dementia care units and in end of life care”. What’s the main focus of the thesis?

Yenan Bryceson researches certain types of primary immuno-deficiencies that lead to overactive parts of the immune system and severe illness. The goal is to understand human immunological diseases, establish accurate diagnostics and contribute to improved treatments.

When the skin barrier is defect, inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis can arise. Maria Bradley is engaged in research focusing on the genetic causes of the disease and how they vary in populations in different parts of the world.

Inger Kull is engaged in research focusing on children and young people’s allergies and the patient’s transition from paediatrics to adult care. Much of her research is linked to the BAMSE Project she co-founded 26 years ago.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet demonstrate that genetic risk score for ADHD can influence how autistic individuals respond to standard interventions and the specific program on social skills training KONTAKT®. This study is now published in npj Genomic Medicine.

Olof Sköldenberg’s research aims to contribute to better treatment and diagnosis of injured joints – especially hip joints. In recent years, among other activities, he has investigated how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used as support in the analysis of orthopaedic X-ray images.

Susanne Guidetti develops methods and interventions for rehabilitating people who have had a stroke and for supporting older people. Her interventions are based on person-centred care, digital support and activities where the individual’s own priorities are in focus.

When a society is shattered into rubble by a disaster, people generally want to help. But without knowledge and coordination, the efforts are often misdirected. Johan von Schreeb conducts research on how global disaster medicine interventions can be made more efficient and effective.

Christian Rück is a psychiatrist who researches different types of obsessive-compulsive disorders – both causes and treatments. He has developed Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that is currently used in psychiatry in Sweden as well as abroad.

Erika Franzén is engaged in research on exercise that improves balance and gait for people with Parkinson’s disease. Her pro-gramme HiBalance, which poses significant physical challenges to the patients, has proven to be both effective and much appreciated.

When we draw conclusions in our everyday lives, what we learn is often linked to emotions – such as that a particular matter is important, a person has a high status, or that an environment is frightening. Andreas Olsson studies how this learning takes place in social situations.

Much of Fang Fang’s research concerns ALS. Although her background is in epidemiology, she likes to integrate other types of research. In her view, multidisciplinary collaboration is key to understand and, in the long run, to cure the disease.

Eric Westman combines brain imaging with machine learning to search the whole brain for the mechanisms behind neuro-degenerative disorders. An important element of his research is to identify different subtypes of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The health benefits of exercise are well known, but healthcare needs to become better at actually using physical activity as a treatment. This is the opinion of Maria Hagströmer, who is engaged in research concerning the relationship between physical activity and health.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD, affects nearly one in four adults in Europe and the U.S. Earlier research has demonstrated an increased risk of death in patients with NAFLD and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Massachusetts General Hospital in the U.S. show that mortality increases with disease severity, but even mild fatty liver disease is linked to higher mortality. The findings have been published in the scientific journal Gut.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet rapidly generate new knowledge on the importance of different groups of drugs and the development of hyponatremi. In the present study, lithium treatment was compared between 11,213 individuals hospitalized due to hyponatremia and 44,801 controlls. Interestingly, lithium treatment was half as common among individuals with hyponatremia. The results were recently published in Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Georgios Sotiriou, Researcher at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology receives the Smoluchowski award for his research contribution to the fields of aerosol science and technology. The award consists of a certification and a personal prize of 2.000 €.