News archive

One of the promising young researchers receiving Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation’s basic research grant this year is Camilla Engblom at the Department of Medicine, Solna. She will use the funding to study a piece of the puzzle that could help develop more precise and personalized treatments for cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

A puzzling experiment in the 1970s led to the discovery of a new type of immune cell. In 2025, the NK cells celebrate their 50th anniversary. Rolf Kiessling tells the story of the serendipitous finding that changed the course of his career.

The 50th annual meeting of the Scandinavian Society for Immunology (SSI) took place in Stockholm on 15-17 October. During the conference the SSI Young Investigator Award was presented to recipients from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

Nearly 240 participants gathered in the Eva & Georg Klein Hall at Karolinska Institutet on 14 October to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery of natural killer (NK) cells. The full-day symposium featured presentations on scientific advances, offering both historical reflections and future outlooks.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that some natural killer cells, NK cells, temporarily reside in our organs and then leave them via the lymphatic system. The study, published in Nature Immunology, shows that our immune system is more dynamic than previously thought. The results may contribute to better treatments that direct the immune system where it is needed.

Tilen Trselic, a doctoral student at the Department of Medicine, Solna, has been awarded the 2025 Cilla Weigelt Prize for his research on Sjögren’s syndrome, a rare rheumatic disease that primarily affects women. The prize includes a personal scholarship and a research grant to promote scientific exchange.

The year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine rewards discoveries that reveal how our immune system is kept in check – in other words, how the body protects itself from attack by its own immune cells. The discoveries pave the way for possible new therapies for many conditions, including autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes, MS and cancer.

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.

Inflammatory bowel disease affects millions of people worldwide and currently lacks a cure. Eduardo Villablanca studies how inflammation starts and heals in the intestines, with the aim to find new treatment methods. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.

New research from Karolinska Institutet, published in Cell Reports Medicine, reveals that mantle cell lymphoma is more diverse than previously thought, highlighting the need for personalized therapies.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Cell Reports Medicine, shows that follicular lymphoma (FL), a common type of blood cancer, is not one single disease but consists of three genetically distinct subtypes. The findings may help doctors diagnose and treat patients more accurately in the future.

The Swedish Society for Virology has awarded the Pandemifonden Fenyö Prize for 2024 to Daniel Sheward, Assistant Professor at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet.

Biological drugs have improved the lives of many people with severe asthma. However, a new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that some immune cells with high inflammatory potential are not completely eradicated after treatment.

Professor Niklas Björkström at the Institution of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH), Karolinska Institutet, is awarded the Eric K. Fernströms prize for younger, especially talented and promising researcher for "his outstanding research on natural killer (NK) cells in humans."

Klas Kärre, Professor Emeritus of Molecular Immunology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, has been elected as an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

The 2025 Svedberg Prize is awarded to Michael Landreh, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet, "for the development and innovative use of mass spectrometric tools that reveal hidden protein interactions."

In multiple sclerosis (MS), antibodies to the common Epstein-Barr virus can accidentally attack a protein in the brain and spinal cord. New research shows that the combination of certain viral antibodies and genetic risk factors can be linked to a greatly increased risk of MS. The study has been published in the journal PNAS and led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and Stanford University School of Medicine, USA.

When you hear the words mucus and snot, you might think of colds, snails or drooling babies. But the runny, sometimes sticky substance often plays a vital role in our lives. And mucus also has potential to be a medicine.

On 26 November an experiment in a sounding rocket was launched at Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden by a research group at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC) at Karolinska Institutet. The researchers aims to collect data for a study that examines how a type of immune cell, T cells, are affected by lack of gravity, called microgravity.

The Committee for Research at Karolinska Institutet has decided on recipients from the Jonas Söderquist scholarship foundation for basic research in virology and immunology. The awarded are Benjamin Nilsson Payant at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology and Egle Kvedaraite at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics.

Is your immune system functioning as it should? The question is not as simple to answer as one might think. Professor Petter Brodin is trying to understand more about it. At the same time, he hopes to help patients that are severely affected with post-COVID and other conditions where the regulation of the immune system is not working.

Unrestrained inflammation is associated with many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Peder Olofsson wants to understand how nerve signals regulate inflammation to ultimately improve therapeutic options. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

A third of the Swedish population lives with a chronic inflammatory skin disease, such as psoriasis, eczema and vitiligo. Liv Eidsmo is mapping the skin’s T cells to better understand why the diseases often recur at the same place. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

In a recent study published in Nature, Swedish researchers demonstrate the role of sex hormones in regulating the immune system. This newfound knowledge explains differences between men and women and can be used to develop new immunological medications according to researchers.

Acute respiratory infections are one of the most common reasons for medical treatment in Sweden and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Anna Smed Sörensen hopes that a better understanding of the immune system in the airways will make serious disease preventable. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

Many immunodeficiency diseases are serious conditions that require stem cell transplantation. Lisa Westerberg is studying how mutations prevent immune cells from moving properly in order to find new therapeutic strategies. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

Together with researchers from University of Oxford, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have demonstrated that a subclass of stem cells that are dedicated to the production of platelets replenish platelets through a distinct and shorter pathway than other stem cells. This is presented in a study published in the journal Nature Immunology.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet reveals that immune cells in the liver react to high cholesterol levels and eat up excess cholesterol that can otherwise cause damage to arteries. The findings, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, suggest that the response to the onset of atherosclerosis begins in the liver.

Lisa Westerberg has been appointed Professor of Experimental Immunology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology from 1 January 2024.

After half a century in near-Earth orbit, humans are heading further out in space. First to the moon again. Then on to Mars! For this to go well, more research is needed on how space stresses the human body.

A new method, developed at Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and SciLifeLab, can identify unique immune cell receptors and their location in tissue, a study published in the journal Science reports. The researchers predict that the method will improve the ability to identify which immune cells contribute to disease processes and open up opportunities to develop novel therapies for numerous diseases.

A new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Cell reports shows that tumor-associated macrophages, which are white blood cells that are found in breast tumors, can both help and hinder the spread of cancer cells to other organs. The researchers found that macrophages that produce a substance called VEGF-C reduce the spread of breast cancer to the lungs but increase the spread to the lymph nodes. This may have implications for the prognosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Alexandra Argyriou, doctoral student at the Department of Medicine, Solna and Mireia Cruz De los Santos, doctoral student at the Department of Oncology and Pathology, have been awarded the Cilla Weigelt Scholarship for outstanding research in molecular mechanisms related to rare and under-treated diseases. The scholarships, 50,000 SEK each, will be awarded on November 13.

The Committee for Research at Karolinska Institutet has decided on recipients from the Jonas Söderquist scholarship foundation for basic research in virology and immunology.

Meet Anna Smed Sörensen, research group leader at the Division of Immunology and Allergy, Department of Medicine, Solna.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Oslo present a new type of immunotherapy that attacks cancer cells with a specific mutation. A study published in the journal Nature Cancer shows promising effects on patient cells in mice and offers hope for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a cancer that has proven difficult to treat.

The notion that some level of microbial exposure might reduce our risk of developing allergies has arisen over the last few decades and has been termed the hygiene hypothesis. Now, an article published in Science Immunology by researchers from Karolinska Institutet challenges this hypothesis by showing that mice with high infectious exposures from birth have the same, if not an even greater ability to develop allergic immune responses than 'clean' laboratory mice.

The government has appointed Jan Albert, professor of infectious disease control at Karolinska Institutet and senior consultant at Karolinska University Hospital, to lead a government inquiry looking into strengthening the country’s preparedness for future pandemics. The directive concerns a national strategy for how pandemics are to be managed and a possible revision of the Communicable Diseases Act. The investigation should be delivered in February 2025.

A new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet has examined how T cells of the immune system are affected by weightlessness. The results, which are published in the journal Science Advances, could explain why astronauts’ T cells become less active and less effective at fighting infection.

Vaccination protects against severe COVID-19 but not against infection. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital now show that protection against infection with the new omicron variants is linked to mucosal IgA antibodies, which are not induced by vaccination. These are the findings of two studies recently published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, and The Lancet Microbe, and could explain the limited protection by currently available vaccines against infection.

A new study in Nature by an international team including researchers at Karolinska Institutet has identified the first genetic variant associated with disease severity in multiple sclerosis. The finding opens the door to the development of treatments that fight disease progression – a great unmet need facing people with MS.

Assistant professor Marcus Buggert at Karolinska Institutet is awarded Anders Jahre's prize for young researchers 2023 and 400.000 NOK.

Our skin contains specialised long-lived killer cells that protect against intruders. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Copenhagen have now identified how these cells are formed, and shown that high levels of memory killer cells in cancer tissue correlate with a better survival rate in people with melanoma. The study is published in the journal Immunity.

Jenny Mjösberg at the Department of Medicine in Huddinge at Karolinska Institutet, receives the 2023 Eric K. Fernström Prize for young, promising and successful researchers, for her outstanding research on the role of innate lymphoid cells in various diseases.

Vaccines against smallpox given until the mid-1970s offer continuing cross-reactive immunity to mpox (previously known as monkeypox), researchers from Karolinska Institutet report in a study published in the scientific journal Cell Host & Microbe.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found further evidence for how the Epstein-Barr virus can trigger multiple sclerosis or drive disease progression. A study published in Science Advances shows that some individuals have antibodies against the virus that mistakenly attack a protein in the brain and spinal cord.

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Sachs’ Children and Youth Hospital have mapped the immune system in the gut of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The results, which were published in Cell Reports Medicine, can be used to design more targeted therapies.

Acetylcholine regulates blood flow, but the source of blood acetylcholine has been unclear. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that certain T cells in human blood can produce acetylcholine, which may help regulate blood pressure and inflammation. The study, which is published in PNAS, also demonstrates a possible association between these immune cells in seriously ill patients and the risk of death.

Immunotherapy is an effective form of therapy for different types of cancer. However, for pancreatic cancer, its effect is limited and differs between men and women. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now found a possible explanation for this sex difference. The study, which is published in Cancer Research, reveals the presence of an immune cell in women with pancreatic cancer that obstructs the body’s immune response. The results can pave the way for a more sex-specific treatment.

During the pandemic, it became clear that children who contracted COVID-19 became less ill than adults. One hypothesis has been that common colds would give children immunity protecting against a severe form of the disease. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet are now able to show that OC43, one of the coronaviruses that cause common colds, boosts the immune response to COVID-19. The study, which is published in PNAS, could give rise to more tailored vaccine programmes for children and adults.