News archive

Amaia Calderon-Larrañaga and Weili Xu are recipients of the Elderly and Ageing 2024 Grant from Forte and will both receive funding for the period 2025-2027.

Two researchers at the Aging Research Center (ARC) are recipients of the Swedish Research Council’s Project Grant 2024 and will receive funding for the period 2025-2027.

As global populations age and the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disorders rises, understanding the complex relationships between body mass index (BMI), metabolic health, and aging becomes increasingly critical.

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

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.

Hi there Abigail Dove! You have recently defended your thesis entitled "Cardiometabolic disease and dementia risk: identifying compensatory factors". Could you tell us a little more?

On Saturday 5 October, the ARC Team, consisting of Franziska Steffens and Federico Triolo, took part in the 2024 Mental Health Run at Djurgården, in close to perfect weather conditions.

The theme of the European Geriatric Medicine Society Congress this year was "From Healthy Ageing to Complex Needs in Older Adults". One of the aims of the (EuGMS) is to encourage and help young practitioners to further their knowledge, by awarding the Best Abstract Awards to the oral communications with the highest translational and clinical relevance. This year, three out of 104 oral presentations were awarded the prize, each winner receiving €500 each and a diploma.

On 25 September 2024, the Widerströmska Huset at Karolinska Institutet hosted the annual SNAC-K Research Day. The event brought together researchers and the data collection team to discuss and reflect on the latest SNAC-K data.

Henry Bode is affiliated to KI and ARC until August 2025. Peiyu Jiang is working as a database coordinator and statistician in the NEAR group since the beginning of September 2024.

Those who wish to live to 100 cannot rely on chance. Instead, it is essential to keep biomarkers associated with ageing and disease in check. By the age of 60, it may already be too late.

You might be 50 years old, but your body could be as fresh as a 40-year-old’s ‒ or vice versa. Biological ageing has its own pace and rhythm. How we live our lives, what we experience, and the quality of medical treatment we receive all influence how quickly we wear out.

Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes are associated with accelerated brain ageing, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Diabetes Care. The good news is that this may be counteracted by a healthy lifestyle.

“Ageing in a transforming world” was the theme of the 27th Nordic Congress of Gerontology (ageing research), hosted by Karolinska Institutet on 12–14 June. Drawing over 800 delegates from 44 countries to Aula Medica, the now international conference was opened by Queen Silvia, who talked about the importance of the research to dignity in ageing.

Hi there Jonatan Gustavsson! You have recently defended your thesis entitled "Determinants of age-related brain iron accumulation and links to neurocognitive functions". Could you tell us a little more?

The brain's flexibility and ability to cope with loss of neurons or other lesions in the brain is called cognitive reserve. In a fifteen-year follow-up study, researchers at the division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Karolinska Institutet, suggest that lifelong cognitive reserve helps maintain late-life cognitive health by delaying cognitive transition in the preclinical stages of dementia. The results of their findings were recently published in Alzheimers & Dementia.

On behalf of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, researchers Lena Dahlberg and Mariam Kirvalidze have done a scoping review of informal caregiving and loneliness. More specifically, the report examines loneliness in spousal carers aged 65 years and older, the factors that increase the risk of loneliness in this group, the consequences of loneliness, and how they themselves experience loneliness.

Davide Liborio Vetrano has received EU funding in the context of Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks for his project entitled "UnderstandiNg fraIlty tOwards a future of healthy ageing (UNION)". The European Commission funds research and innovation projects to boost top researchers' careers through mobility and innovative doctoral and postdoctoral training. The project will start in 2025 and Davide Liborio Vetrano is the Principal Investigator at Karolinska Institutet.

Hi María Latorre Leal, doctoral student at the Division of Neurogeriatrics. On April 26 you will defend your thesis "The role of oxysterols in neurodegeneration : implications for cognitive function, maternal effects, and sex-specific differences". What is the main focus of the thesis?

Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga has been awarded the SFOepi consolidator bridging grant for the project entitled "Multimorbidity and kidney function in old age: longitudinal trajectories and synergistic effects". The amount granted is SEK 3,600,000 for the period 2023-2025.

Andreas Eklund is the new HR administrator and substitute for Ellinor Lind during her parental leave. We took the opportunity to ask Andreas a few questions.

An article in The Conversation written by a KI researcher broke a record in the number of readers. Associate Professor Karin Modig's article on centenarian biomarkers received almost 2.4 million reads and was translated into several languages.

Some people seem to age faster than others. Whilst “chronological age” describes the time that has passed since someone was born, “biological age” tells us how old their body appears. We can measure biological age using standard clinical data such as blood test results and blood pressure readings. Alternatively, we can measure biological age using information about DNA methylation, which are marks on our DNA that change over time.

KI researcher Goran Papenberg has been granted a project grant from the Swedish Research Council for his research on the brain's ability to produce new neurons and its relevance for long-term memory and depression in aging.

People who have a higher biological age than their actual chronological age have a significantly increased risk of stroke and dementia, especially vascular dementia. These are the results of a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Frailty is an age-related state of physiological decline and is a strong predictor of disability and mortality. Researchers are trying to improve our understanding of the biology of frailty and to find ways of identifying frail older adults with the aim to improve individualized management of frailty.

A new thesis from Karolinska Institutet advocates end-of-life care that prioritizes the highest possible quality of life, avoids unnecessary or preventable risks and respects patient wishes.

The Aging Research Center (ARC) is an interdisciplinary research centre established in 2000 by Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, and a division of the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at KI. ARC is now launching a new website which can be found at ki.se.

On a sunny afternoon in October, several hundred people gathered in the Aula Medica at Karolinska Institutet in Solna. Study participants in the extensive SNAC-K study had been invited by the Stockholm Gerontology Research Center foundation and Karolinska Institutet (KI) to hear about the latest research findings from the study.

Hi Lisa Herulf Scholander, doctoral student at the Division of Occupational Therapy. On November 10 you will defend your thesis ”Narrative relations: resources for meaning-making and person-centred practices in geriatric care”. What is the main focus of the thesis?

A team of researchers from Karolinska Institutet and University of Glasgow has developed a new test that can accurately measure biological aging in a clinical setting. The discovery was made while studying patients for the aging effects of chronic kidney disease.

Hi there Federico Triolo! You are soon to defend your thesis entitled "Depression and chronic diseases in old age: understanding their interplay for better health". What is the main focus?

Hi there Xin Xia! You are about to defend your thesis entitled “Cardiovascular Health, Orthostatic Hypotension, and Cognitive Aging”. Could you tell us a little bit more?

The Nordic Congress of Gerontology (NKG) is arranged every second year in the Nordic countries and next year Sweden will be hosting the event. The 27th edition will be held at Karolinska Institutet on 12–14 June 2024. It is anticipated that 800 people and scholars from different parts of the world will take part, offering a diverse array of distinctive perspectives on the challenges and opportunities linked to population ageing. Registration will open on 2 October 2023.

The prize is awarded annually by the Swedish Society of Medicine (SLS) to a person who has made outstanding contributions to Alzheimer's research. This year the Bengt Winblad Prize is awarded to Laura Fratiglioni, Professor of Medical Epidemiology with a focus on dementia diseases at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.

Researchers at the Ageing Research Centre have been awarded a number of grants from Demensfonden, Stiftelsen Sigurd och Elsa Goljes minne, Stiftelsen Ragnhild och Einar Lundströms minne, as well as the SfoEpi Consolidator grant, for studies on the health and well-being of older people. In addition, ARC is involved in a project within preventive and health-promoting interventions that has been granted funding from Forte.

Hi there Yuanjing Li, PhD student at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Aging Research Center (ARC)! You are about to defend your thesis entitled “Cardiovascular health and brain aging: a population-based MRI study". Could you tell us a little bit more about it?

Forte is allocating SEK 160 million to research on the health and well-being of older people. The funds are divided into three programme grants and 19 project grants and the research will begin in 2023 and continue until 2029. Two researchers at the Aging Research Center (ARC), Karolinska Institutet, have been granted funding for their important research within the ageing research area.

Hi there Jing Wu! You are about to defend your thesis entitled “Ambient Air Pollution and Transportation Noise: How They Affect Mental Health in Older Adults”. Could you tell us a little bit more about it?

Older people with ischemic heart disease have an increased long-term risk of dementia and accelerated cognitive decline. A recent study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, suggests that the heart, the brain, and cognitive function are connected in the ageing process and that appropriate prevention and treatment of ischemic heart disease in older people might reduce the burden of dementia.

The Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte) is allocating over SEK 91 million to KI research on elderly wellbeing and future working life. One of the researchers, who is to receive SEK 24 million, is Associate Professor Carin Håkansta at Karolinska Institutet and Karlstad University, who will be examining how the working environment is affected when some managerial tasks are taken over by algorithms.

Hi Nathalie Frisendahl, PhD student at the Division of Physiotherapy. On June 16 you will defend your thesis ”Injurious falls in older adults: early identification of individuals at risk of falls—from observational studies to implementation”, what is the main focus of the thesis?

The Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet, in collaboration with the National Competence Centre for Relatives (Nka), is launching a nationwide survey to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of older informal caregivers in Sweden.

On 21 March 2023, researchers from several universities around the country, the Swedish Agency for Health and Care Services Analysis and Region Jönköping, gathered at Karolinska Institutet in Solna for a symposium on person-centred and integrated care for older people. Moreover, keynote speakers from the UK and Australia set the scene on the topics of person-centred and integrated care.

Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease requires reliable and cost-effective screening methods. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now discovered that a type of sugar molecule in blood is associated with the level of tau, a protein that plays a critical role in the development of severe dementia. The study, which is published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, can pave the way for a simple screening procedure able to predict onset ten years in advance.

There are clear regional differences in the proportion of older adults receiving potentially inappropriate drug treatment in Sweden. In a study published in Frontiers of Pharmacology, researchers at Karolinska Institutet examine regional differences over time and show that these regional variations have decreased over the past decade.

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has decided on new appointments for all 14 members of the Government's Council on Geriatric Research and appointed Mats Thorslund as a new member. This means that NVS has four representatives on the council.

Frailty can be defined as an aging-related syndrome of physiological decline, characterized by marked vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. It is becoming an important public health concern as the aging population increases.

Laura Fratiglioni, Senior professor at Karolinska Institute is awarded the Great Gerontology Prize by the Swedish Gerontological Association for her contribution to Aging Research.

Debora Rizzuto, principal researcher and research group leader at the Aging Research Center (ARC), Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet, has received a project grant for a project entitled "SoundMIND – effects of noise on cognition and mental health", from Forte.