News archive

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in BMJ Global Health, shows that one in eight patients admitted to hospitals are critically ill, and most of these patients are cared for outside intensive care units. The researchers behind the study believe that simple but underutilised care could save many lives at a low cost.

A number of new classes are now available at KI's Health Hub, both in Solna and Flemingsberg. The classes are open to both staff and students.

The room in Biomedicum at Karolinska Institutet campus in Solna was packed on 20 March, when researchers and members of staff from government agencies and county councils gathered to share their experiences of register-based research and data release during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many had encountered similar problems, especially with long lead times and the difficulty of obtaining real-time data, but there were also several successes to highlight and learn from.

A comprehensive study from Karolinska Institutet shows that people with fatty liver disease have almost twice the mortality rate of the general population. They have an increased risk of dying from both liver diseases and common diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to the study published in The Journal of Hepatology.

In a study on ovarian cancer cells, researchers from Karolinska Institutet demonstrate how the tumor environment influences how cancer cells respond to drugs by using AI. The study has been published in the journal Communications Biology.

Paul Petrus and his research group will move from MedH to FyFa in May. He is looking forward to the transfer and to engaging more closely with other research groups at the department.

This year, the Swedish Rheumatism Association (Reumatikerförbundet) is awarding almost SEK 14 million to research into rheumatic diseases. What unites many research projects is a clear focus on personalised diagnostics and treatment. Of the total of 87 research projects in this year's allocation, 32 are conducted at KI.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine offers PhD graduates at KI the possibility to conduct postdoctoral research at SJTUSM.

Shandong University, China, offer PhDs and postdocs at KI the possibility to participate in an exchange program.

Andri Papakonstantinou has been awarded the Pfizer and Swedish Society of Oncology’s (SOF) research scholarship in oncology for postdoctoral researchers in 2025. The scholarship was presented at SOF's annual meeting in Sundsvall on March 20th.

Shandong University offers the possibility to apply for an internship in Basic medical Science during July 7-20, 2025

Professor Rolf Kiessling at Karolinska Institutet has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 CIMT Lifetime Achievement Award for his groundbreaking discovery of natural killer (NK) cells, which has significantly advanced our understanding of the immune response to viruses and cancer cells.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) find it harder to get pregnant, have more frequent miscarriages and have a higher risk of developing endometrial cancer. Now, in a new study published in Nature Medicine, Swedish researchers have shown that the uterine lining of these women differs in terms of both the composition of individual cells and gene expression. The results open the door to new drug treatments.

In an evaluation presented on 19 March, the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) states that certain areas of biomedical analyst programmes throughout the country need to be improved in order for students to receive the best possible education. At the same time, there are strengths in the programmes that can inspire further development, according to the results from UKÄ.

Karolinska University Hospital has recently adopted a new RDE (research, development and education) strategy. The strategy is now firmly anchored with Karolinska Institutet. For us, collaboration with Region Stockholm is a priority – strong regional collaboration and partnerships with the private sector are essential if Sweden is to reinforce its international position in medical research and development.

Congratulations to Elena Raffetti and Sibylle Herzig van Wees at GPH who have been awarded funding by the Committee for Research for Assistant Professor positions. In a short interview, they share what this opportunity means to them and how they balance their teaching responsibilities with their research.

On Saturday, March 15th, StratNeuro hosted the annual En Resa Genom Härnan event as part of Brain Awareness Week 2025.

The biotech company Magnephy is developing new methods to analyze tissue biopsies using optical 3D microscopy and sample clearing. This technique enables whole-tissue diagnostics and in-situ drug testing.

In this episode of the KIB podcast we dig deeper into the academic perspective on AI: How do students use and reflect upon the use of AI in their studies – and how should they?
• How can I use AI to support me in my learning process?
• What’s happening to our brains? (Or to the intended learning outcome?)
• Is it cheating if I ask “my friend Bob” the AI to write my essay?

The FyFa Dialogue is now up and running! On Monday 17 March, technical and administrative (T/A) staff met as the first group in the series of workshops. T/A staff stressed the importance of following up and taking forward what emerges from the FyFa Dialogue sessions.

Professor Aklillu recently led a two-week training program on clinical trial fundamentals at the University of Rwanda. The initiative gathered senior researchers and specialists to strengthen clinical research in the region, marking a key step in advancing ethical and effective trials across Africa.

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.

There is a large discrepancy between the number of human ethics applications submitted to the Swedish Ethical Review Authority by KI researchers, and the number of applications registered at KI. Applications and decisions by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority for human research at KI need to be registered at KI (diarieföring), according to the KI guidelines for recordkeeping. We therefore need to see to that this is done and create a process for this at FyFa.

Meet Lingjia Yin (Keira), a PhD student at GPH who will defend her thesis on Pediatric Tuina in May this spring. Her research journey has taken her from China to Sweden and back again. Dive into her story and discover the exciting work she is doing to improve children's health with massage, and learn why her best advice to new PhD students is "don't get stuck in the jungle forever"

The research bill for 2025-2028 announces, among other things, calls that require coordination of applicant universities. KI’s President Annika Östman Wernerson has decided to set up a steering group with the task of simplifying and overseeing these processes and other upcoming initiatives in the government's research policy.

The first five years of life are crucial for long-term health. Mental ill health is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time and parenting support is an effective way to promote the health of the youngest children. Lene Lindberg leads the new research program Early Equity, which also aims for equal child health care regardless of circumstances. Learn more about the project in an interview with Lene.

Wednesday, 2 April, it is time for KI’s Sustainability Day. This year, the theme is planetary boundaries and the connection to health. Employees and students are invited to a day in Biomedicum with inspirational lectures, good examples from KI’s operations and several award ceremonies. Carl Johan Sundberg, professor and dean of KI Nord, highlights the connection between planetary boundaries and health, and Maria Wolrath Söderberg from Södertörn University delves into climate rhetoric.

In autumn of 2022, Jennie Gustavsson was diagnosed with rectal cancer. In March 2024, she learnt that the disease was incurable.

A few years ago, Krister Sjörén started having a pain in his back and shoulder, especially when he worked out where certain movements became difficult to perform. At the health centre, the doctor could not provide any explanation. He did not take a PSA test either, which Krister find difficult to forgive him for.

Lisa Sand is a social worker who has worked as a counsellor with terminally ill and dying patients since the 1980s. She completed her PhD and defended her thesis in which patients were interviewed about the existential crisis that arises when death becomes a reality.

Malin Eneslätt wants to initiate more conversations about death, dying and grief. This can be done, for example, with the help of the DöBra card deck, which will now be produced in digital form.

Children who are dying often understand that they are indeed dying. A major task for healthcare professionals is to help children, parents and siblings to talk about it. But how do you do that?

We have all been born, and we will all die. But how do we want to die, and how can the final period be as good as possible? Researchers in palliative care aim to improve the quality of life for people with incurable diseases. Another important task is to achieve more equitable access to this care.

Medical history researcher and general practitioner Jonatan Wistrand at Lund University is awarded the prize for his outstanding doctoral thesis 'Doctors as Patients', which explores doctors' own experiences of illness throughout history.

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.

Olga Rivera Ballesteros from the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) at the Departmet of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH) is defending her thesis titled "Circulating and Resident Memory T cell functions in viral diseases", on 21 March, 2025. Main supervisor is Marcus Buggert (MedH).

With over a million documents in its registers, Karolinska Institutet has levelled up from a storage regime of cardboard boxes to a digital system that is both efficient and legally secure. Thanks to improved workflows, quality assurance and a dedicated unit, it is now simpler and quicker to find, store and protect important documents – a change that is as beneficial to the general public as it is to KI employees and researchers.

This year's awarded research grant from the Swedish Kidney Foundation (Njurfonden) was a record amount, seven and a half million SEK for kidney research. About half, SEK 3,450,000, goes to projects at Karolinska Institutet.

In celebration of International Women's Day, Professor Eleni Aklillu was featured on EDCTP's social media and praised for her leadership in the PROFORMA project and for her guidance of female researchers.

This year’s operational plan for KI’s Professional Services (PS) and University Library is now ready for viewing. “The joint document is intended to ease communication, enhance transparency and build a mutual understanding of how each unit contributes to KI’s shared goals in Professional Services and other parts of the university,” says University Director Veronika Sundström.  

NASP and The Swedish Suicide Research Conference (SSRC) is excited to announce the recipients of its early-career researcher scholarships. These scholarships aim to support promising researchers by providing financial assistance to attend the conference and present their work.

Hanna Gräs, 24, has always had a passion for medicine and research. How she would get there, however, was not as clear. From growing up in a Stockholm suburb to studying in the English-taught master's programme in translational physiology and pharmacology, her ongoing journey towards a career in life sciences is both exciting and challenging.

The aim of the newly established Centre for AI Innovation at Karolinska Institutet is to support and expedite the development of AI innovations in healthcare. “While AI has huge potential, there are many factors to take into account before AI solutions can become practicable,” says the centre’s director Johanna Furuhjelm.

On March 11th, 2025, StratNeuro partnered with The Cell at Forskaren to host a dynamic and engaging event as part of Brain Awareness Week (March 10–16, 2025).

The conditions under which research and education collaborations with the USA operate are in danger of being undermined by decisions announced by the country’s recently instated president. Here, Karolinska Institutet’s president Annika Östman Wernerson comments on the situation and talks about what KI can do to prepare for any changes that might come.

The Committee for Research at Karolinska Institutet has, after a careful inventory, decided to award Eric Thelin's research group, active at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, SEK 730,000 from a donation bequeathed by Erik Gut.

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.

Researchers who are awarded a Göran Gustafsson Prize are among Sweden's foremost under 45 years of age in their field. One of this year's five Göran Gustafsson Prize winners is KI researcher Laura Baranello, who is being recognized for “groundbreaking studies on the regulation of topoisomerases and their role in tumor biology”. The aim of the research is a new strategy for less intrusive cancer treatments.

KI has been actively involved at different levels in drawing up a new strategy for research, development and education (RDE) at Karolinska University Hospital that aims to enhance the hospital’s academic environment, improve access to health data, double external research funding and promote early career development in research.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a previously unknown mechanism that affects the ability of cancer cells to spread in the body. The study, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, shows that a process called chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) may function as a natural defense mechanism against metastases.