News archive

Air pollution is one of the most significant health threats in the world. In Sweden, air quality is improving, but in other parts of the world, the trend is going in the wrong direction. At the same time, research shows that even very low levels of pollution, below legal limits, harm our health.

Thanks to a generous donation from businesswoman and investment company director Louise Lindh, the Department of Dental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet is able to establish a new professorial chair. This marks an important step towards making dental health a self-evident and integral part of public health, a move that both researchers and healthcare professionals have long been calling for.

A new study in the European Heart Journal shows that people who develop type 1 diabetes in adulthood have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death, and that those diagnosed later in life do not have a better prognosis than those diagnosed earlier. The study, conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, points to smoking, poor glucose control and obesity as the main risk factors.

People with a certain heart valve abnormality are at increased risk of severe heart rhythm disorders, even after successful valve surgery. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden published in the European Heart Journal. The condition is more common in women and younger patients with valve disorder and can, in the worst case, lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Researchers at Swedish institutions, including Karolinska Institutet, have identified gene variants that increase the risk of atherosclerosis. The goal is for these new findings to enable earlier detection of atherosclerosis and improved treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke. The study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Early diagnosis of COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, increases the quality of life of the patient and the efficacy of available treatments. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now shown that material from nasal lavage provides a basis for assessing COPD. The study, which has been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, could lead to a simple diagnostic method for early assessment of COPD.

Rebecka Hultgren has been appointed as Head of the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, MMK. The decision was signed by Dean Carl Johan Sundberg on March 7, 2025. Rebecka Hultgren will take over the assignment as head from Anders Franco-Cereceda on June 1, 2025.

Patients who have been treated for heart failure and experience an improvement of their pump function, are still at higher risk of heart-related death or hospitalisation if they stop taking heart failure medications. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the top-ranked journal Circulation.

In animal studies, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found a possible mechanism for how the artificial sweetener aspartame may contribute to atherosclerosis – a common cause of cardiovascular disease and disease of the blood vessels in the brain. The study is published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Women who have experienced pregnancy complications have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the European Heart Journal shows that sisters of women with complicated pregnancies are also at higher risk, even if they had uncomplicated pregnancies. The findings suggest that genes and shared environmental factors may influence the association between pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease risk.

A new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Södersjukhuset shows that advanced ultrasound imaging analyses cannot identify patients who would benefit from beta-blocker treatment after a myocardial infarction. The study, published in the scientific journal European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging, is a follow-up to the previous REDUCE-AMI study.

For children battling both congenital heart defects (CHD) and cancer, the road to recovery is far more precarious than previously understood, according to a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The research reveals that these children face a higher risk of death within five years after a cancer diagnosis compared to their peers without CHD. Although their survival rates have improved over recent decades, lymphoma mortality remains disproportionately high.

We congratulate Ulf Hedin, Professor of Experimental Vascular Surgery at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, who has been elected Alexander W. Clowes Distinguished Lecturer 2025.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Gothenburg have identified two types of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease – a liver-specific type and a systemic type that affects other organs and tissues. The discovery could lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of this growing patient group. Two studies are published back-to-back in Nature Medicine.

Clarivate has unveiled its 2024 list of Highly Cited Researchers, recognizing individuals whose work has had significant global influence in their fields. Lars H. Lund is one of them.

The Board of Sven and Ebba-Christina Hagberg's foundation has decided to award Bahira Shahim and David Marlevi the foundations personal prize and a research grant, for a total of SEK 650,000 each. The prize will be awarded at the annual Installation Ceremony at the Karolinska Institutet in October 2025.

After severe heart failure, the ability of the heart to heal by forming new cells is very low. However, after receiving treatment with a supportive heart pump, the capacity of a damaged heart to repair itself with new muscle cells becomes significantly higher, even higher than in a healthy heart. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Circulation.

Hi Marko Bogdanovic, doctoral student at the Vascular Surgery research group, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery.

You will defend your thesis "Strategies to predict patient-specific outcomes after endovascular aneurysm repair" on December 5, 2024 . What is the main focus of the thesis?

Business magnate and honorary doctor at Karolinska Institutet Fredrik Lundberg is donating SEK 25 million for a continued investment in cardiovascular research. This is the fifth large donation made since 2007 by Lundberg, whose engagement has enabled research that has greatly improved therapeutic and surgical methods for cardiovascular diseases.

In a new study published in the European Heart Journal, researchers at Karolinska Institutet show that genetic traits influence the cellular composition of atherosclerotic plaques, which over time will affect the risk of such lesions to cause a stroke or heart attack. The new knowledge can be used to improve the risk assessment and treatment of patients with atherosclerosis in the future.

Common cardiovascular drugs are linked to a lower risk of dementia in older age, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

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.

Hi Andreas Rydell doctoral student at the Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care. On November 7 you will defend your thesis "Impaired lung function and the development of cardiovascular disease". What is the main focus of the thesis?

Ulf Hedin, Professor of Vascular Surgery at Karolinska Institutet, and Christian Gasser, Professor of Biomechanics at KTH, are jointly leading a new research project focusing on technology to enable individual treatment of fatal forms of stroke and carotid artery disease. The project is now being granted research funding of SEK 4.5 million per year for five years by MedTechLabs.

A new donation professorship in prevention is being established at Karolinska Institutet. It will be named Prince Daniel's Professorship in Cardiovascular Prevention and will be awarded to researcher and obstetrician Ylva Trolle Lagerros, who took up the position on 1 October. The aim is to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Sweden.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a new potential risk marker for cardiovascular disease in women. A new study shows an association between low levels of an anti-inflammatory antibody and the risk of heart attack and coronary heart disease. The study is published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology.

The Swedish Society of Medicine (SLS) awards researchers John Pernow and Aida Collado Sánchez at Karolinska Institutet with the Alvarenga Prize 2024. The laureates are rewarded for a research article on a study that shows a new cause behind vascular complications in type 2 diabetes and possible future treatment to prevent this.

Severe, lasting hot flushes during menopause are associated with atherosclerosis in the coronary artery, new research from Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association reveals.

Finding out who falls ill and why is essential to preventative action. Jette Möller conducts epidemiological research on our major health issues – cardiovascular disease, mental ill-health and injuries. Meet one of Karolinska Institutet's new professors who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

Certain genetic variants that have previously been linked to the lung disease COPD can explain reduced lung function already in children and adolescents, according to researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The results are presented in the Lancet's sister journal eClinicalMedicine together with fifteen other European research centres.

A new study shows that women lose more years of life after a heart attack than men. A 50-year-old woman with a large heart attack loses an average of 11 years, while an 80-year-old man with a small heart attack loses an average of 5 months of life. The study was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital and the results have been published in the journal Circulation.

The use of new nicotine products such as white snus and e-cigarettes has increased significantly among young people in Sweden. Marketed as tobacco-free, these products often contain high levels of nicotine and are flavoured in ways that attracts new target groups. But what do we really know about the risks?

Ljubica Matic and Anton Razuvaev from the Vascular Surgery Group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, have been awarded with the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation 120 years Jubilee grant for their project that aims to reveal novel mechanisms and develop therapeutic targets and biomarkers for personalised treatment in lower limb peripheral arterial disease.

On June 3rd and 4th, international vascular surgeons, scientists and trainees gathered in the Sune Bergström Auditorium to present and discuss translational vascular research. This was the third time the Vascular Surgery group at the Department of Molecular and Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, hosted the meeting, in 2020 in a virtual format, in 2022 and this year in the welcoming venue of Bioclinicum.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with a slightly increased risk of heart failure up to 20 years after diagnosis, according to a comprehensive registry study from Karolinska Institutet published in the European Heart Journal.

Jacob Hollenberg, Mattias Ringh and Leif Svensson, at the Department of Clinical Research and Education, Södersjukhuset at Karolinska Institutet, are awarded for using innovative technology to develop an outstanding app and method, which increases the chance of survival for people who have suffered a cardiac arrest .

Researchers from the Vascular Surgery Group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, have teamed up with 20 clinical research centres, universities, professional associations, SMEs and non-profit representative organisations of civil society in a new EU Horizon Europe project NextGen, aiming to develop the next generation tools for genome-centric multimodal data integration in personlised cardiovascular medicine.

For heart attack patients, treating only the coronary artery that caused the infarction works just as well as preventive balloon dilation of the other coronary arteries, according to a new large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and others. The results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Half of all patients discharged from hospital after a heart attack are treated with beta-blockers unnecessarily. This is according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"I am convinced that this will influence future practice," says Tomas Jernberg, Professor at Karolinska Institutet and lead researcher of the study.

The Swedish Kidney Foundation (Njurfonden) distributes more than SEK 7 million to research into kidney diseases. This is the largest sum since the fund was established and is awarded to 40 researchers, 19 of whom are active at Karolinska Institutet. The grants go to research related to chronic kidney disease, dialysis and transplantation.

Height and weight charts have been used for decades to monitor child development. A paper in The Lancet now presents a new application that enables healthcare professionals to keep a regular check on the development of one of the body’s most vital organs – the lungs. Lung Function Tracker is the product of an international collaboration involving researchers at KI, the University of Barcelona, Spain, the Imperial College London, the UK, and the University of Melbourne, Australia.

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.

The Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery and the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Kragujevac in Serbia has now formalized a multi-year cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding.

In December, Kenneth Chien is leaving his professorship in cardiovascular research after ten years at Karolinska Institutet. He will now devote himself wholeheartedly to developing new mRNA therapies in the biotechnology industry.

We congratulate Daniel C Andersson, Johanna Lanner, Jon Lundberg, Carl Johan Sundberg, and Eddie Weitzberg, researchers at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology (FyFa), for securing grants from the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation in 2023. In total SEK 5,9 million has been awarded the researchers at FyFa.

A new laboratory for MRI examinations was recently inaugurated at Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge. The purchase of a new MRI scanner, following a donation from the Erling Persson Foundation, creates completely new opportunities for the Stockholm Region and Karolinska Institutet for both doctors and researchers.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have evaluated the possibility of alerting drones equipped with automated external defibrillators (AED) to patients with suspected cardiac arrest. In more than half of the cases, the drones were ahead of the ambulance by an average of three minutes. In cases where the patient was in cardiac arrest, the drone-delivered defibrillator was used in a majority of cases. The results have been published in the journal The Lancet Digital Health.

It is common for middle-aged women with suspected myocardial infarction to be diagnosed with broken heart syndrome instead, which is triggered by stress and grief. Per Tornvall hopes that his research will result in more people receiving the correct diagnosis and fewer people suffering a relapse. He is now testing to see if internet CBT may help to heal the heart.

The Swedish Society of Medicine (SLS) annually awards SEK 100,000 as a prize to a particularly deserving younger researcher who has applied for and been awarded SLS project grants. This year, the prize goes to Bahira Shahim, resident physician in cardiology and researcher at the Department of Medicine Solna.

Although a simple molecule, nitric oxide is an important signal substance that helps to reduce blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels. But how it goes about doing this has long been unclear. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now present an entirely novel principle that challenges the Nobel Prize-winning hypothesis that the substance signals in its gaseous form. Their findings are presented in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.