News archive

Hi there, Sarah Wallcook, PhD student at the Division of Occupational Therapy! On June 10 you will defend your thesis “Conditions of everyday technology use and its Interplay in the lives of older adults with and without dementia”. What is the main focus of your thesis?

Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet, University of Oxford and University of Copenhagen have shown that elevated levels of lipids known as ceramides can be associated with a ten-fold higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Treatment with liraglutide could keep the ceramide levels in check, compared with placebo. The results have been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and UCL have identified a general factor called ‘decision acuity’ that affects young people's decision-making ability, independent of IQ, and is associated with good social functioning. The results have been published in the journal Neuron.

During the night between June 1st and 2nd, there will be a power shutdown in Neo. *** Please note that contrary to normal expectations, it is the power outlets that provide BACKUP power that will be UNPOWERED. ***

For decades, scientists have studied the health benefits of exercise – but this research has largely ignored the fact that how you spend the rest of the day may also matters. Instead of the recommendation that everyone should strive to achieve 150 minutes of weekly exercise, our results show physical activity recommendations can been more personalized. People can adopt a combination of activity that works best for them.

An exciting new way has been found in which the body senses a bacterial infection within 4 hours and uses nerve pathways to trigger an immune response in distant organs. The speed by which an infection can be identified, and how the defence mechanisms are triggered is critical to infection outcome.

Meet the 16 COVID-X Data and AI Solutions selected in the Open Call #1

Congratulations to Elin Hardell at the department of Oncology-Pathology who gets award for best thesis 2020 from Swedish society of pathology!

Young children who practice visual working memory and reasoning tasks improve their math skills more than children who focus on spatial rotation exercises, according to a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings support the notion that training spatial cognition can enhance academic performance and that when it comes to math, the type of training matters. The study is published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

There are many questions surrounding how best to communicate your operations and how to find the right support to do so. In the communications subproject within the project Coherent operational support, work has been started to make it even clearer what communications support is available – the goal is to produce a kind of service catalogue for KI's employees.

The common skin disease atopic eczema (AE) impacts heavily on the life quality and general health of sufferers. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now evaluated its treatment with internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT). The study suggests that patients feel better after iCBT compared with a control group who received only traditional treatment. The results, which are published in JAMA Dermatology, might eventually make important care available to a large patient group.

With this postdoctoral programme SRP Diabetes aims to support the next generation of exceptional young scientists within the diabetes area, including both experimental and clinical research. To promote cross-fertilization between research environments, we encourage scientists wishing to pursue postdoctoral training in a different university from where they carried out doctoral studies. Openings for fellowships in 5 different laboratories at Karolinska Institutet.
Deadline June 6!

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have investigated the use of low dose venetoclax, an experimental drug, for the treatment of the heterogeneous cancer disease multiple myeloma in patients who had relapsed on standard therapies. The findings are published in the American Journal of Hematology and provide new hope for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Hi there, Haohao Wu, PhD student at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "The molecular basis of the development and diversity of proprioceptive neurons : a story of surviving and thriving" on 21 May 2021.

The Department of Global Public Health will be involved in several courses in the new 6-year medical program that begins in Spring 2021.

To make it easier for a visitor to understand which subject a certain page belongs to and where on the website they are, we are introducing a new mandatory function on a page. Each page must be linked to a page above it in the structure.

Glaucoma involves a high risk of losing sight. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and St. Erik Eye Hospital, among others, have now studied the effects of nicotinamide, the amide of vitamin B₃, on animal and cell models for glaucoma. The study, published in Redox Biology, may be a future neuroprotective therapy in glaucoma in humans. A clinical trial will start in the autumn.

This weekend (May 21st - 23rd) there will be work done of the floor in the Neo lunchroom. Starting on Friday with removing furniture to prepare, but you can still enter and use the fridges, freezers and microwaves, as long as you are mindful of any indications that portions of the lunchroom is off limits.

During Saturday and Sunday the lunchroom is COMPLETELY off limit.
NO ENTRY, except for cleaning staff.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Social anxiety disorder can cause considerable suffering in children and adolescents and, for many with the disorder, access to effective treatment is limited. Researchers at Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm have now shown that internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy is an efficacious and cost-effective treatment option. The study is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

After the move, you who have forwarded your student e-mail to an alternative e-mail account must do this setting again.

New research at Karolinska Institutet suggests a link between psychosis and a genetic change that affects the brain's immune system. The study published in Molecular Psychiatry may impact the development of modern medicines for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adolescents is associated with impaired education and worse general health later in life. Access to specialist treatment is often limited. According to a study from Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm, internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be as effective as conventional CBT. The study, published in the prestigious journal JAMA, can help make treatment for OCD more widely accessible.

Hi there, Konstantinos Poulakis, PhD student at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics! On May 28 you will defend your thesis “Alzheimer’s disease heterogeneity assessment with MRI biomarkers and unsupervised statistical learning”. What is the main focus of your thesis?

Due to the public holiday on Thursday the gym facilities are closed. Open as usual on Friday May 14!

More than one year ago, Inika Prasad had the idea of arranging a TEDx event when picking up a book about public speaking at an airport. Together with her classmate Lukas Lehtonen they turned the idea into reality. On May 27, TEDxKI From Mirage to Oasis takes place – the first TEDx event at KI in a decade.

MRSA skin infections are often treated with intravenous injection of antibiotics, which can cause significant side effects and promote the development of resistant bacterial strains. To solve these problems, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden are developing a microneedle patch that delivers antibiotics directly into the affected skin area. New results published in Advanced Materials Technologies show that the microneedle patch effectively reduces MRSA bacteria in the skin.

Karolinska Institutet (KI) has been awarded a grant from Sida for a two and a half year capacity development project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Somalia. The project aims to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Low levels of serotonin in the brain are seen as a possible cause of depression and many antidepressants act by blocking a protein that transports serotonin away from the nerve cells. A brain imaging study at Karolinska Institutet now shows that the average level of the serotonin transporter increased in a group of 17 individuals who recovered from depression after cognitive behavioural therapy. The results are published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

On May 27th, between ca 08:00 and 12:00, there will be some work done to complement the evacuation alarms in some of the labs where it has been too difficult to hear. As a result of this, some audible alarms will be triggered for short periods during the morning and the delta repeaters throughout the building are likely to alarm from time to time.

Thirteen KI researchers have received funding from the Heart-Lung Foundation for their research on the new coronavirus. The grants total SEK 6.5 million, with approximately 40 per cent of the grants being distributed by the Heart-Lung Foundation (2021). The focus of the research is on the aftermath of COVID-19 where the disease has caused late complications on the heart, vessels and lungs. A total of SEK 15.7 million was distributed to 30 research projects at six different universities.

Initially, the project was to focus on the budget process in externally funded research projects. But it became clear, quite early on, that something else was to be prioritised. Ideas on how to better support researchers emerged, based on the vision of a harmonised professional service.

Charlotte Oja, PhD student at the Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, will defend her thesis “Upholding family relationships in a context of increasing awareness of parental illness” on June 4.

Older people with kidney disease have a higher risk of dementia, and the risk increases with the rate and stage of kidney function decline. That is according to a large observational study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal Neurology. The findings stress the significance of screening and monitoring for dementia in persons with kidney disease, the researchers say.

Hi there, Johanna Simin, PhD student in Clinical Epidemiology at the Centre for Translational Microbiome Research at Karolinska Institutet! You will defend your thesis entitled "The role of oestrogens and antibiotics on the development of cancer" on 1 June 2021. Can you tell us a little more?

Hi there Harpa Sif Eyjólfsdóttir, PhD student at the Aging Research Center (ARC). You will be defending your thesis entitled “Unequal tracks? Studies on work, retirement and health” on 24 May 2021. Could you tell us a little more about it?

On May 19th, the quarterly test and maintenance on the sprinkler system in Neo will take place. The work is expected to be done by lunchtime (~12) and we don't expect the audible alarm to be triggered.

A study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet and University of Gothenburg has found that low levels of a protein called PDGFRb are associated with particularly good results of radiotherapy in women with early-stage breast cancer. The study, which is published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, also suggests that the efficacy of radiotherapy can be improved with drugs that block this protein.

Perfectly controlled protein scissors at the molecular level reveal the binding sites of antibodies, and enable the bottom-up design of new monoclonal antibodies aimed at medically important target proteins.

To succeed in the international competition, researchers at Karolinska Institutet need secure access to cutting-edge technology as well as a wide range of basic core-facilities. The Research Committee has therefore adopted a strategy for activities related to core-facilities and research infrastructure until 2024.

Cancer of the colon and rectum is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, and has in recent years affected growing numbers of young people. In the largest registry study to date, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Harvard University in the USA demonstrate a possible connection between colorectal polyps in close relatives and the risk of developing colorectal cancer. The study, which is published in The British Medical Journal, is of potential consequence for screening procedures.

StratNeuro has awarded SEK 1,000,000 in start-up grant to Kristoffer Månsson, who was granted a 2020 faculty-funded Assistant Professor (biträdande lektor) position.

Florian Schober from the research group Inborn Errors of Endocrinology and Metabolism, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Systems biology of mitochondrial dysfunction" on May 7, 2021. Main Supervisor is Anna Wredenberg.

Nine out of ten cases of tuberculosis appear in 30 identified low and middle-income countries, each of which has a national tuberculosis programme. The managers of these programmes agree that it is important to screen for tuberculosis outside of health facilities. However, each screening programme must have its own well-considered, sustainable strategy and sufficient resources for it to be meaningful – which is not always the case today. This is one conclusion drawn by Olivia Biermann’s thesis.

In Sweden, there are over 2 million legally owned firearms. At the same time, up to 150,000 people live with a diagnosis of dementia. In an aging society such as Sweden, legislators will face challenges in gun ownership. A new registry-based observational study by researchers from NVS, Karolinska Institutet, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease shows a need for strategies for this growing problem.

Karolinska Institutet hopes to establish a new professorship in anti-doping and public health named after Arne Ljungqvist, who turns 90 this year. The university is now seeking donors for the professorship, which can be consequential in the fight against a grown public health problem.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered a mechanism through which meningitis-causing bacteria can evade our immune system. In laboratory tests, they found that Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae respond to increasing temperatures by producing safeguards that keep them from getting killed. This may prime their defenses against our immune system and increase their chances of survival, the researchers say. The findings are published in PLoS Pathogens.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Public Health Agency of Sweden have studied newborn babies whose mothers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy or childbirth. The results show that although babies born of test-positive mothers are more likely to be born early, extremely few were infected with COVID-19. The study, which is published in the esteemed journal JAMA, supports the Swedish recommendation not to separate mother and baby after delivery.

Be resilient, work hard – and have fun! In a conversation about their journey to becoming professors, Erika Franzén and Maria Hagströmer gave good advice to junior researchers.

In almost ten per cent of myocardial infarctions, no obvious cause in the coronary artery can be found. Some of the patients are diagnosed with broken-heart syndrome, while others are left without a diagnosis. A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that early magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the heart can greatly increase the rate of diagnosis. The study has been published in the journal JACC Cardiovascular Imaging.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found links between certain blood groups and a total of 49 diseases, including a new finding that having blood group B seems to be a protective factor against kidney stones. The study, which includes data on more than five million people and over 1,000 diseases, confirms previously identified connections between certain blood groups and increased risk of blood clots, bleeding conditions or pregnancy-induced hypertension. The result is published in eLife.