News archive

The StratNeuro Clinical Grants aim to support clinically active researchers in neuroscience at KI, and who have been granted a “Klinisk forskare” or a “Högre klinisk forskare” grant from Region Stockholm.

Fabian Byvald from the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), will defend his thesis entitled "Type 1 Diabetes: Immunomodulatory Cytokines, Predictive Biomarkers and Antiviral Therapies" on 16 October. His supervisor is Malin Flodström Tullberg.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped how so-called atypical B cells develop and change function over time. The study, published in The EMBO Journal, shows that the cells do not constitute a uniform group but instead follow several developmental pathways that converge on a common end stage. The findings may help explain why atypical B cells have previously been linked to different roles in the immune system.

The Faculty Board has held its first meeting in KI’s new collegial organisation. The agenda included academic recruitment, quality assurance, research infrastructure and resource allocation.

When the Stockholm Trio University Alliance organised the AIMday Sustainable Consumption conference, researchers and staff from the City of Stockholm came together to discuss specific challenges in the city’s sustainability work. Following the conference, researchers at Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Stockholm University received funding to take the work forward. Just under a year later, the projects have contributed to the city’s efforts to achieve its sustainable consumption targets.

Would you like to broaden your research network, develop new skills and collaborate with researchers at another leading institution in Europe?

On October 23, Nina Fattahi will defend her thesis, "Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm – Prevalence, familial risk and patient perspectives," in which she has studied heritability among first-degree relatives of patients with AAA.

Meet Nick Tobin, lecturer, principal researcher and docent at the Department of Oncology and Pathology at KI. Nick teaches in the subject area of Bioinformatics, but also runs seminars on various aspects of cancer including its hallmarks and the utility of cancer gene expression signatures in a clinical setting. Nick is one of Clinicum's advisors within Bioinformatics.

Karolinska ATMP Center is one of the partners behind a new platform that analyses global research on advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). By tracking publications and their influence on areas such as clinical trials and patents, the platform provides insights into how the field is developing and how Sweden compares internationally.

Three researchers at the Department of Laboratory Medicine have been awarded nearly SEK 20 million from Svenska Sällskapet för Medicinsk Forskning (SSMF) 2026 for innovative projects on the role of the immune system in cancer, the brain’s glial cells and the development of NK cell memory.

During 2026, the Infrastructure Board (IB) has considered a number of matters relating to the development of Karolinska Institutet’s research infrastructure. In this newsletter, we summarise some of the most important decisions and discussions. The aim is to provide an overview of current initiatives affecting researchers and staff working within KI’s core facilities.

Ioannis Parodis, researcher at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded the 2026 Global Team Science Award from the Lupus Research Alliance. Together with an international research team, he will receive a multi-year grant of USD 3 million to develop tools that can predict how people with lupus respond to treatment, paving the way for more personalised care.

We congratulate Fredrik Jäderling, Associate Professor of Radiology and Medical Imaging in the Urology group, who has been awarded the Swedish Urogenital Radiology Association’s (SURF) Honorary Award 2026. He receives the award for his significant contributions to Swedish urogenital radiology.

Shared family factors, such as genes and upbringing, are likely to explain a large part of the link between high screen use and mental health problems in young people. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Human Behaviour.

Increasing age in adults with depression may be associated with a less favourable long-term disease course. A new study published in BMJ Mental Health by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Amsterdam University Medical Center shows that depressive and anxiety symptoms declined more slowly with age and that older participants were more likely to experience a chronic course of depression.

A digital educational escape room developed through the BalticSeaBioMed collaboration is now available for educators and students. In Saving Alex, players work through a biomedical mystery by uncovering clues, solving problems, and applying scientific reasoning, critical thinking, and ethical judgement.

Robot-assisted surgery for early-stage cervical cancer was associated with fewer complications during the operation itself than open surgery, but the difference mainly involved less serious events. This did not lead to fewer complications after surgery or to better overall recovery. This is shown by the first publication from the international randomised RACC study. The results are published in JAMA Surgery.

The benefits of the HPV vaccine may extend beyond protection against cancer. In a study published in The BMJ, researchers at Karolinska Institutet found that women who had been vaccinated against HPV were less likely to experience several pregnancy and childbirth complications, particularly preterm birth.

Are you a PhD student or postdoctoral researcher in a field related to health crises? If so, you are welcome to apply for a grant from the Nordic Health Crises University Network for short-term exchanges at other Nordic universities. Exchanges must be related to the field of health crises, last for 2–6 weeks, and costs may total up to 30,000 SEK. The Nordic Health Crises University Network works, amongst other things, to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between Nordic universities.

Apply for SASUF+ mobility funding for a long-term research stay at a South African partner university. Open to eligible KI doctoral students and early career researchers.

We are looking for students who would like to take part in an interview about the time before starting their studies and during their first semester at KI.

People who grew up in low-income families are at greater risk of developing atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries later in life. This is shown by a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The association remained even after the researchers had taken lifestyle habits and other risk factors into account.

Researchers from six countries gathered in Stockholm in September for the fifth annual workshop organised by the Social Inequalities in Ageing (SIA) Network. The event brought together junior and senior researchers to discuss ongoing studies, strengthen research collaborations and exchange perspectives on ageing and health.

Over the last couple of months, the research group Global Disaster Medicine – Health Needs and Response at the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet, has had the pleasure of welcoming three new PhD students. Between them, Wessam, Mostafa and Sovathiro’s research cover the impact of public health insurance, understanding health seeking behaviour in people affected by armed conflict and prehospital care for civilians in armed conflict and war.

Naltrexone and fluoxetine demonstrated similar results in the treatment of people with compulsive sexual behaviour disorder in a new study from Karolinska Institutet. Published in BMJ Mental Health, the study found no clear differences between the medications after eight weeks of treatment, although symptom patterns changed differently over time.

Common chemicals called phthalates, which are used in plastics, cosmetics and personal care products, may affect several different cell types in the human ovary. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal eBioMedicine.

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel have been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries behind optogenetics, a method that makes it possible to switch nerve cells in the brain on and off using light. The technique has given researchers new tools to understand how specific nerve cells contribute to memories, emotions and behaviour.

Per-Ola Carlsson, professor at Uppsala University, receives the Kerstin Brismar Award 2026 for his contributions to research and treatment of diabetes. The award is granted by the Rolf Luft Foundation for Diabetes

When this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced on 5 October, KI students came together to watch the exciting moment unfold. Refreshments were served as the live broadcast was shown on a big screen.

When representatives of various organisations working with mental health in crises and ultimately war gathered for a roundtable discussion to provide input to an ongoing government inquiry into the topic, there was clear agreement and common ground in regards to what is important for creating good mental health and strong psychosocial preparedness. The group now plans to continue meeting and monitoring the issue.

On 25 September, Researchers’ Friday (Forskarfredag) was held at Albanova University Centre and at several other locations across Sweden. This year, the event celebrated its 20th anniversary while also looking ahead to the discoveries and solutions that may shape the next 20 years. Under the theme "The Future Mission", around 2,000 upper secondary school students had the opportunity to meet researchers and students, discover current research and try out science in practice.

Throughout her career, Märit Halmin has been committed to fair and equitable healthcare, especially in crises, conflicts and low-resource settings where you often have to work with limited resources. Now her work is now being honoured with the Swedish Society of Medicine’s Hippocrates Prize. Meanwhile she wants to continue championing issues related to prioritisation and decision-making when resources are scares.

Maria Eriksdotter, professor of geriatrics at Karolinska Institutet, has been awarded this year’s Bengt Winblad Award by the Swedish Society of Medicine. She receives it for her long-standing and outstanding contributions to translational Alzheimer’s and dementia research. Behind the award are both pioneering research into new treatments and the development of SveDem, the world’s largest quality registry for dementia disorders.

We congratulate Kristina Sonnevi at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge, on her appointment as Docent in Hematology on 15 September 2026.

Tumours are not made up of cancer cells alone. They also contain immune cells and other support cells that interact within a complex ecosystem known as the tumour microenvironment. A doctoral thesis by Linglong Huang at the Department of Oncology-Pathology suggests that the spatial organisation of cells in solid tumours may provide clinically relevant information about patient outcomes.

The Infrastructure Board at Karolinska Institutet has decided to allocate funding to five projects under the call for proposals ‘New technologies and methods at the forefront’. A total of up to 16 MSEK will be allocated in 2027 to strengthen the research infrastructure and provide researchers with access to new technologies, methods and tools.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026 is awarded for optogenetics — a method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells shape memories, feelings and behaviours in the living brain. Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel discovered a remarkable protein, channelrhodopsin, in a single-celled alga. Karl Deisseroth transformed the protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells. The laureates have laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience.

If you work at the Department of Dental Medicine or Universitetstandvården, you are warmly invited to the 2026 Christmas buffet. It will be a Christmas buffet to satisfy and delight even the most discerning guest at Drottninghof restaurant and bar, right in the centre of Stockholm.

As part of the initiative Advances in Artificial Intelligence at Karolinska Institutet, we will celebrate and recognize a significant achievement in AI made at KI during the past year, either through the development of new AI methods or through innovative applications of AI. Nominations are now open, and we encourage you to nominate a candidate whose work deserves recognition.

A Swedish team with participants from several parts of the healthcare sector has won World Championship gold in advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (A-HLR) in Milan. The team includes John-Åke Palm, anaesthesia nurse and lecturer at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet. The win is the result of dedicated training, but also proof of skills that can make a difference when lives are at stake.

The KI NeurotechEU Collaborative Awards were established to promote academic activities, organization of workshops and lectures, and mobility between KI and the other eight partner institutions within NeurotechEU.

Alberto Sola-Leyva, Assistant Professor at the Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, has been appointed Coordinator of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology’s Special Interest Group Reproductive Genetics. The appointment covers the 2026–2028 term.

KI researchers Tim Baker and Carl Otto Schell have been awarded the Lancet’s Evidence to Impact Award for their efforts to increase the survival rate for critically ill patients. The concept they have developed is called Essential Emergency and Critical Care and comprises 40 basic treatments. In the first large implementation study, mortality decreased by 31 per cent. “We both want to make the world a better place,” they say.

This week, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz visited Karolinska Institutet together with a delegation from Minnesota for a strategic forum on research, healthcare, innovation and life sciences.

Physical exercise is an important part of osteoporosis treatment, but which type of training gives the best results? A new thesis compares the machine-based training method OsteoStrong with traditional multicomponent training in older women.

Despite access to free school meals, some adolescents eat outside school during the school day. A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in BMC Public Health, found that meals consumed outside school is more often classified as unhealthy compared to food consumed at school. The findings highlight the importance of both school meals and the food environment surrounding schools.

The research grant from Neuroförbundet is SEK 1,250,000.

A small protein known as p11 may play a much broader role in cellular signaling than previously thought. Researchers at Karolinska institutet have now shown that p11 interacts with numerous receptors targeted by commonly used medicines, opening new possibilities for treating conditions such as pain, inflammation and depression.

You have spent years developing exceptional expertise, rigorous thinking, and the ability to solve complex problems. But when it comes to navigating the next steps in your career, many doctoral researchers tell us they feel underprepared - not because of a lack of ability, but because strategic career planning is rarely part of doctoral training.

Researchers at KI have been involved in a NATO working group that has drawn up guidelines designed to reduce the risk of soldiers’ brains being affected by shock waves from explosions, primarily during training. The Unit for Experimental Traumatology has been conducting defence medicine research for nearly 20 years and has worked closely with the Swedish Armed Forces. The NATO assignment forms part of the group’s long-term work to advance knowledge in the field of Swedish defence medicine.