News archive

The Karolinska Institutet and Mayo Clinic are pleased to announce the availability of limited competitive funds for short-term travel by faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, students and/or trainees between the partner institutions to plan or conduct collaborative interactions.

Tahmina Akhter from the Biosciences and Nutrition Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, is defending her thesis titled "Classification of asthma with cross-cohort clinical data and with enhancer mediated gene regulation", on 15 November, 2024. Main supervisor is Carsten Daub (MedH).

Clinics and hospitals currently defer medication abortion until ultrasound confirms a pregnancy inside the uterus. However, a large international study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet now indicates that treatment can be equally effective and safe even before the sixth week of pregnancy. The study is published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Professor of developmental biology and former member of the Nobel Assembly Björn Vennström has passed away at the age of 75. He is survived by his wife Kristina, his children Karin and Anders and grandchildren.

Researchers from the Department of Women's and Children's Health received more than SEK 35 million when the Swedish Research Council decided on calls within Medicine and health in 2024.

Viktoria Hansson works at KI as a coordinator for students with disabilities . She is responsible for specialised study adaptations for KI students, known as pedagogical accommodations. We asked her a few common questions about this support.

Javier Leal Martin is a postdoctoral researcher who joined ARC on 1 November 2024. He will be working in Davide Liborio Vetrano's research group.

It´s time again for a new round of our joint exercise activity Pep at Work.

Researchers, doctoral students and students gathered in Solna on 16–17 October to mark 30 years of fruitful collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and Mayo Clinic at their annual joint conference. The extremely popular and much-appreciated research conference with 600 participants, including 100 from the Mayo Clinic, centred this year on AI and health data, a rapidly growing area that impacts profoundly on the future of healthcare.

Congratulations to the five researchers at GPH who have been awarded project grants from Forte and the Swedish Research Council in their 2024 call for Medicine and Health.

As part of the response to the escalating threat of a global dengue fever epidemic, a new interdisciplinary EU-funded research initiative has been established with KI as coordinator. The COMBAT project aims to develop solutions to manage and mitigate the dengue virus, which causes 100 million infections and 10,000 deaths annually in 141 countries. In addition to the human suffering, the virus causes an economic burden of over EUR 8 billion globally.

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) has decided on grant applications within Medicine and Health 2024. Researchers at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology were granted over 36 Mkr together.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the foundation Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. In this year's major round of research funding, the foundation's board of directors has decided to fund a total of 77 projects in the humanities and social sciences for a total of just over SEK 370 million. Five of these projects are run by researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

Congratulations to Ida Nilsson and Richard Rosenquist Brandell who have been granted project grant from the Swedish Research Council in their call Medicine and Health 2024 and to Alexander Fyrdahl who has been granted establishment grant from the Swedish Research Council in their call Natural and Engineering Sciences 2024.

University of Bergen in collaboration with researchers at Karolinska Institutet have been awarded a significant grant funded by Horizon Europe with €7 million during 2024-2028 in recognition of their dedication to target Epstein-Barr virus to treat and prevent Multiple Sclerosis.

Congratulations to Linn Öijerstedt for receiving financial support by BioArctic for her postdoctoral fellowship in the pursue of finding a marker of TDP-43 pathology. In addition, Linn has received grants from Björklunds foundation and Demensfonden for her projects on cognitive and behavioural impairment in ALS.

Juliette Foucher's paper validating the Edingburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS) in Swedish.

Using a new technique, long-read sequencing, that allows DNA to be analyzed in much greater detail than before, a team of Swedish clinicians and researchers has discovered an unexpected complexity in chromosomal abnormalities. The study opens the door to more precise and effective treatment of patients with rare diseases that currently lack clear diagnoses.

Supervisors Michael Ratz and Kristiina Tammimies share how their students’ participation in NeurotechEU brought back tangible benefits and some exciting new possibilities.

Congratulations to the six researchers at NVS who have been awarded project grants from the Swedish Research Council in their 2024 call for Medicine and Health.

On October 30, 2024, Ronaldo was awarded a Starting Grant within Medicine and Health of 6 million SEK over a 4-year period for his research “Host-microbial interactions in oral mucosal immunopathology”.

A new collaborative study from Karolinska Institutet published in Science Advances shows that the levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) directly influence lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression in mice. LUAD is a common subgroup of human lung cancer that typically contains high levels of mtDNA. The link between high mtDNA levels and tumor progression suggests that mtDNA may provide a new therapeutic target and a biomarker for stratifying patients.

Some changes will soon take place for some of our centrally managed software licences. Some software will be replaced with new versions, some prices will be adjusted upwards to meet increased costs from manufacturers, and others will be adjusted downwards as we have managed to negotiate better prices.

In the Swedish Research Council's latest call, SEK 96 000 000 was awarded to 13 researchers at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) for the years 2024-2029.

The Collaborative Research Projects will support new multidisciplinary collaborations for ambitious yet feasible research projects in all areas of Neuroscience. The aim is to promote multidisciplinary research through new and innovative collaborations of outstanding scientific quality.

Karolinska Institutet has produced a new environmental policy to tackle present and future environmental and sustainability challenges. The environmental policy describes the intentions and directions of KI’s work with environmental sustainability. In integrating the environmental perspective throughout the organisation, KI will make an active health-focused contribution to addressing society’s key environmental and climate challenges.

Researcher, screenwriter and composer Sissela Nutley is awarded KI's Culture Prize for her work in uniting culture and science to convey messages about the brain and mental health, including through the school program “Det syns inte” (It is not visible) which is used in classrooms around Sweden. The prize was awarded during KI Culture Day on 30 October.

The National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention announces the first Swedish Suicide Research Conference (SSRC), set to unite experts in suicide research from across Sweden and abroad. This event, partly supported by a Forte grant, will take place in Stockholm in May 6–7, 2025.

In a recently published study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KI University Hospital show that radiotherapy (RT) creates an "epigenetic memory" in skin fibroblasts which impairs skin healing in cancer survivors. They also found that by targeting this memory with antibodies the damage could be reversed. This finding can lead to new therapies for both preventing and treating RT-induced skin issues.

We at Dentmed and Unitand continue to reduce our negative environmental impact. The audit was conducted by Susanne Evergård from Intertek on October 22-24, 2024. It resulted in a continued certification, without deviations. This confirms that we are all making a difference!

Thuy Tran's research group at Karolinska Institutet has been awarded SEK 8 million over three years from the Erling-Persson Foundation to develop a precision-orientated, theranostic, method that integrates the diagnosis and treatment of advanced, solid tumours.

On 23 October, the Stockholm Trio University Alliance hosted a seminar at Karolinska Institutet on how interdisciplinary research and education can contribute to sustainable development. The seminar was organized by Stockholm Trio for Sustainable Actions, an initiative within the alliance that supports Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Stockholm University in their work to contribute to the UN's 17 global goals.

The Global Child Health and Sustainable Development Goals research group recently hosted a delegation of prominent guests from Shanghai, China, to exchange insights on health economics and childcare systems. Their visit aimed to deepen the understanding of the Swedish healthcare system, particularly in the context of children’s health.

Adrián Carballo Casla has recently been awarded a Forte Starting Grant 2024. His research project aims to tailor dietary recommendations to the unique needs of older adults, potentially leading to healthier and longer lives.

An abnormal BMI in children – be it high or low – can now be associated with impaired lung function, but if their BMI is normalised before they reach adulthood, the impairment can be offset, researchers from Karolinska Institutet report. Their results, which are based on data collected under the BAMSE project, are presented in The European Respiratory Journal.

In Clinicum's network there are advisers with many different backgrounds who contribute with their experience - all to enhance your research. We have talked to one of them, Stephen Nash, a statistician at MEB, and asked some questions about what to consider when submitting an application to Clinicum.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that heart failure mortality has decreased in Sweden over the last 20 years. The study has been published in the European Journal of Heart Failure.

On June 17, the training program ‘Future Academic Leaders’ (FAL) for NVS concluded, after running for 1,5 years. 36 participants completed the program, which included a mix of new and already established managers, as well as employees on their way to potentially become leaders in the future. There is a basic FAL program at KI, which NVS has tailored to suit our needs. The results of the evaluations indicate that the participants were very satisfied with the program. Here are some comments.

Northern Nigeria has one of the highest mortality rates for children globally – in Jigawa, 1 in 6 children still die before their 5th birthday. The INSPIRING trial aimed to reduce child mortality with a package of interventions focused on participatory approaches to capacity building and empowerment.

After the freezer failure in Neo, the Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) opened a supervisory case. The case has now been closed and IVO considers that the investigations carried out and the measures taken by Karolinska Institutet are sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the Biobanks Act.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that global warming, combined with an aging population, could lead to a significant increase in people with severe electrolyte imbalances in the blood. The results are presented in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

What are KI's important issues for the future and what forums do we need to work even better together? Take the chance to discuss these and other important topics with President Annika Östman Wernerson, Vice President Martin Bergö and University Director Veronika Sundström as they once again invite all employees to an open dialogue meeting in Flemingsberg 22 January.

The Swedish National Audit Office's reviews of, among other things, information security at Swedish higher education institutions have revealed major shortcomings. KI has therefore decided to raise the level of security in several areas. To achieve increased information security and better management and utilisation of resources, Coordinated IT will be implemented - the decision has been made by KI's University Director and the Consistory.

Tips from KI Grants Office regarding current calls

The Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM) arranged a seminar during October’s Nobel Calling week for upper-secondary school science students. Over 800 participants from around the Stockholm region gathered in Aula Medica to hear the latest news and issues concerning young adults’ environments, lifestyles and future career choices with an overall focus on human health.

KI is working to increase the internationalization of its educational programmes. The aim is to increase quality and diversity and to prepare KI's students for work in a global labor market.

The Department of Medicine Solna has purchased some mobile gyms that can be borrowed within the department. Having exercise equipment nearby can be a good way to get a few minutes of exercise during the day - good for both body and mind.

This year, Karolinska Institutet celebrates 25 years of support for visiting researchers and overseas doctoral students. Sharing knowledge and experience leads to innovation and progress, which is why we cannot do without our international collaborations. There are many support functions in place for our visiting researchers and overseas doctoral students, all to ensure their reception is as good as we can make it.

Are you a student in any of KI's educational programs and want to participate in a focus group interview to share your views on how KI can build student engagement and develop the study environment?

Karolinska Institutet celebrates a remarkable achievement as two students have been honoured in the prestigious thesis competition Global Undergraduate Awards (GUA) programme. Muriel, a first-semester biomedicine master’s student, and Sophia, a final-semester medical programme student, have both emerged victorious in their respective categories thanks to their theses.