News archive

Karolinska Institutet’s Culture Week took place between October 14 and 18 with numerous events and activities that showcased the richness of talents and perspectives within our university.

Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet are the first in Sweden to apply for an accredited Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) by the Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI). On October 23-24 an is taking place at Karolinska University Hospital.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have followed children who have sought emergency care for wheezing during their first years of life and found specific biomarkers that can predict the need for asthma medication several years later. The study is published in the prestigious European Respiratory Journal.

Our beloved friend and colleague Annette Heijne passed away on October 4, following a long period of illness.

Hello there, Sergiu Catrina - Associate Professor, Specialist Physician and Research Leader for the Growth and Metabolism Group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery.

People with multiple sclerosis who can walk at a relatively normal speed and effectively process information are more likely to continue to participate in social activities, according to a new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal. The findings highlight the importance of integrating motor and cognitive rehabilitation in the care of patients with MS.

StratNeuro awards a total of 1,6 MSEK to the following Collaborative Neuroscience Pilot Research Projects.

In this study, researchers from the department of Oncology-Pathology (Monica Nistér, Catharina Larsson, Adam Stenman and Christofer Juhlin together with colleagues from Karolinska Institutet, Great Britain and USA, including this year's Nobel prize winner Dr. WG Kaelin Jr described a new mechanism regarding how certain mutations in the tumor suppressor gene von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) leads to increased risk for development of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new cheap method that can identify highly heterogeneous tumours that tend to be very aggressive, and therefore need to be treated more aggressively. The technique is presented in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

People with atopic eczema have many more Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in their skin than those with healthy skin or psoriasis, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Helsinki in Finland. The study, published in the Nature Communications, shows how the S. aureus bacteria displaced other potentially health-promoting bacteria. The discovery may be important for future treatments of the skin disease.

For the eight year in a row, Karolinska Institutet’s Global Master’s Scholarship has been awarded to Master’s students from outside Europe.

Mushroom pickers and kite surfers who want to cure cancer and eliminate chronic pain – those are some of the 13 new professors inaugurated at Karolinska Institutet on Thursday in a ceremony in Aula Medica. Some 750 guests had gathered to welcome the new professors in addition to eight adjunct professors, four visiting professors, eight prize winners and four medalists.

This year’s KLOK Award goes to Danderyd’s Academic Care Centre for their exemplary well-organised student work.

Hi there Anne Leppänen, PhD student at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Prevention Policy and Practice (PPP), defending her doctoral thesis "Tobacco Cessation on Prescription – a primary healthcare intervention targeting socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Stockholm". What is it about?

The company "Care to translate", founded and developed by KI students, was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year in the Business Challenge 2019.

“MedH is a department with fantastic opportunities for ground-breaking translational research, and heading such a department is a very attractive proposition", says Petter Höglund.

Children are more likely to have higher systolic blood pressure by age six if their mom used the Swedish powdered tobacco product snus during pregnancy. This according to a new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences have investigated the effects of testosterone supplementation in young athletically active women in a randomised, placebo-controlled trial. The results, which are published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, show that there is a causal relationship between elevated male sex hormone levels and increased aerobic capacity in young women. There was also an increase in muscle mass but not muscle strength.

Children born to women who underwent gastric bypass surgery before becoming pregnant had a lower risk of major birth defects than children born to women who had severe obesity at the start of their pregnancy. That’s according to a matched cohort study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Örebro University published in the scientific journal JAMA. The findings indicate that weight-loss and improved blood sugar control could reduce the risk of major birth defects.

We become weaker as we get older. For those who suffer from severe muscle loss at an early age, the consequences in everyday life are often significant. Thomas Gustafsson is researching the causes of these changes and how they can be counteracted.

The winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2019 have explained a vital ability – how cells adapt to the availability of oxygen. These discoveries have opened the door to new strategies for combating anaemia, cancer and many other diseases and are now being investigated further at institutions including Karolinska Institutet.

Chronic kidney disease often goes undetected until late stages, but is of great significance to individuals’ overall health. Juan Jesus Carrero uses clinical epidemiology to improve the identification and management of those afflicted with the disease.

Refugees who fled to Sweden were no more likely to die by suicide than migrants who moved to the country on their own terms, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and UCL in the U.K. However, the risk of suicide for both groups increased the longer they stayed in Sweden and was after 20 years almost on par with that of the native population. The study is published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.

A mobile app for postoperative follow-up care leads to better patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs. Ulrica Nilsson investigates how e-health solutions can improve perioperative care.

Mental disorders, such as depressive and anxiety disorders, can lead to long-term sick leave – but excessively prolonged sick leave can also aggravate the illness. Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz conducts research on the links between mental disorders and social insurance.

Johan Lundin is using mobile digital solutions and artificial intelligence to make diagnostics accessible, safe, and accurate in low-income countries. The tools he is developing can also reduce the workload of doctors and laboratory personnel in high-income countries.

Researcher at Karolinska Institutet have identified the first genetic link to CGRP signaling and cluster headache. CGRP is a neuropeptide that can trigger both migraines and cluster attacks and now several drugs are successfully launched that have CGRP or its receptor as their target. The results are published in a study in Cephalagia Report.

Uwe Tietge researches the function of cholesterol in the body. His aim is to map basic mechanisms of metabolism’s molecular regulation and to identify novel targets for innovative cardio- vascular disease treatments.

New liquid nitrogen feeding pipes are being installed to the EM-facility at the Wargentin-house. Therefore, the liquid nitrogen feeding to cryo-freezers will be interrupted from noon on Monday 21 October and until Tuesday morning 22 October.

Exosomes are tiny particles secreted by cells. They are involved in important processes in the body and may have useful clinical applications, including improved cancer treatments. Susanne Gabrielsson is one of the veterans of this young field of research.

Congratulations to Lennart Ilke, senior adviser at Karolinska Institutet’s Property and Facilities Office! He now also has the distinction of having translated to Swedish one of the books by the Polish winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in literature, Olga Tokarczuk.

Johan von Schreeb is appointed Professor of Global Disaster Medicine at the Department of Public Health Sciences, from 15 October 2019.

Professor Emeritus Gunnar Höglund, doctor and researcher, died on October 3, 2019, 88 years old. His importance in highlighting the importance of medical education research and its development is unmatched in the history of Karolinska Institutet.

DNA origami involves ways in which DNA can be used to build nanoscale constructions. Björn Högberg has improved this technique and uses it for both basic research and the development of clinical applications.

Keith Humphreys develops and uses statistical methods for epidemiological research. He has a special interest in breast cancer risk assessment and in the studying the effectiveness of mammography screening.

Marie Hasselberg conducts epidemiological research on various types of injuries, including traffic injuries. Her aim is to identify both causes and possible improvements. Much of her research takes place in low- and middle-income countries.

Living with chronic pain is challenging – not least because of the limited number of good treatments. Camilla Svensson is researching the mechanisms behind persistent pain in rheumatic diseases and how it can be tackled in new, more effective ways.

University of Washington in Seattle, USA, has decided a building under construction will be named after the late Karolinska Institutet-professor Hans Rosling. The center is mainly financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, and is expected to be finished in 2020.

Two research projects at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded synergy grants from the European Research Council (ERC). In total, the researchers and their international partners were awarded about EUR 19 million (SEK 209 million) over a six-year period for studies that aim to widen our understanding of disease-causing fat cells and unlock new cancer treatments.

Erik Melén conducts research on the causes of allergies, asthma, and other paediatric lung problems as well as the factors that influence disease progression over time. His goal is to develop knowledge and treatments for better lung health over a person’s lifetime.

Altogether SEK 170 million. This is this year's allocation from the European Commission under the funding programme for health in Horizon2020. A total of 20 research projects at Karolinska Institutet are being supported, three of them also coordinated from here: a survey of what we are exposed to in the environment; mapping of the brain's different nerve cells; and a project to bring down the mortality rate in childbirth in four African countries.

Charlotte Ytterberg, Susanne Guidetti and Staffan Josephsson will receive grants.

StratNeuro retreat 2019 at Sånga-Säby Kursgård on Ekerö was as usual interesting and well attended.

Laura Crucianelli, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience, tells us about the "autonome sensory meridian response" (asmr) in podcast Medicinvetarna #24.

People with low scores on intelligence tests in adolescence run a higher risk of suicide and suicide attempt later in life. That is according to a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden that followed almost 50,000 Swedish men from the 1970s until recently. The study is published in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Associate Professor Annika Vänje is the newly appointed research leader for a research and collaboration programme aimed at combating sexual harassment within academia which was started this past spring. She is now starting her work, aimed at creating a better work and study environment and, by extension, higher quality in the university’s research and education.

Hi Stina Ek, PhD-student at the Division of Aging Research Center. On October 25th you will defend your thesis ”Predictors and consequences of injurious falls among older adults : a holistic approach”, what's the main focus of the thesis?

Atopic dermatitis and psoriasis affect more than 300 million people worldwide and are highly variable in terms of onset, severity, progression over time and response to treatment. BIOMAP will examine the causes and mechanisms of these conditions by identifying the biomarkers responsible for the variation in disease outcome.

Correction: The article “Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study,” published in The American Journal of Psychiatry on Oct. 4, 2019, has been corrected following a review of the statistical methodology and some of its conclusions.