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Patients can experience 30 per cent fewer serious adverse reactions if their drugs are tailored to their genes, reports a study published in The Lancet. A European collaboration involving researchers from Karolinska Institutet suggests that a genetic analysis prior to drug therapy could significantly reduce suffering and healthcare costs.

To improve understanding of mental health, today’s symptom-based diagnoses need to be complemented with biological criteria accounting for differences between individuals and the sexes. A major EU-funded research project, coordinated by Uppsala University, will pursue an interdisciplinary path towards better strategies to protect vulnerable individuals from mental illness. Three research teams at Karolinska Institutet participate in the project.

On the 1st of September Mattias Öberg began working 20% at the Centre for Health Crises. His role is to develop the centre’s work with chemical and toxicological health crises. This will be done through, among other things, monitoring, establishing networks, identifying educational and research gaps, as well as identifying how the centre best contributes to the field.

Annachiara Malin Igra researches the health effects of early-life metal exposure in children in Bangladesh. Her research provides important evidence that growth, bone health and pubertal development of children can be negatively affected by cadmium from food at exposure levels relevant for millions of children around the world. Now she wants to see a new risk assessment for metal exposure where child health is included.

Sten Orrenius, Professor Emeritus at Karolinska Institutet, died on April 27, 2020. Dr. Orrenius was an internationally renowned and highly respected toxicologist because of his groundbreaking research in drug metabolism, the role of disruption of calcium homeostasis in cellular toxicity and mechanisms of programmed cell death (apoptosis).

Twelve researchers at Karolinska Institutet qualify for the annual list of highly cited researchers compiled by Web of Science.

Studies conducted at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University show that some indigenous groups in the Andes of northern Argentina have increased resistance to arsenic. The researchers also identified the gene that underlies the altered metabolism and protects against exposure to arsenic. This study is the first to show that some humans have genetically adapted to a polluted environment.