Karolinska Institutet

KI becomes first university in Sweden to offer massive open online courses for a...

5/22/2013 5:23 AM EST

A new partnership with educational platform edX means that Karolinska Institutet has become the first university in Sweden to offer internet-based courses to hundreds of thousands of students around the world.
“This means that we have put ourselves way ahead of the field as we meet the future’s demand for quality academic courses,” says dean of higher education Professor Jan-Olov Höög. “It makes Karolinska...

Consultant Inger Hagerman receives the first medical stipend from the Håkan Mogr...

5/14/2013 3:13 AM EST

The Håkan Mogren Foundation has selected researcher and consultant Inger Hagerman to be the 2013 recipient of its medical stipend. The 250,000 kronor prize is to be awarded to Dr Hagerman for her exceptional contributions to human wellbeing.
The Håkan Mogren Foundation was set up in 2012 to promote education and research in medicine and the training of classical musicians, particularly singers.

This is the...

Beyond the double helix – your DNA isn’t the whole story

4/30/2013 3:00 AM EST

Some genes are expressed only in certain cells and at certain times. Ever since David Allis, professor at the Rockefeller University in New York, discovered the workings of a system that controls the genes, the field of epigenetics has exploded. He is now coming to Sweden to hold a lecture at Karolinska Institutet.
Reporters are welcome to attend the lecture:
Beyond the double helix: why your DNA isn’t the...

Mapping of cancer cell fuel pumps paves the way for new drugs

4/29/2013 4:00 AM EST

For the first time, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to obtain detailed images of the way in which the transport protein GLUT transports sugars into cells. Since tumours are highly dependent on the transportation of nutrients in order to be able to grow rapidly, the researchers are hoping that the study published in the scientific magazine Nature Structural & Molecular Biology will form...

The Rausings donate SEK 20 million to breast cancer research at Karolinska Insti...

4/29/2013 3:10 AM EST

Märit and Hans Rausing are donating an additional SEK 20 million to breast cancer research at Karolinska Institutet. The donation is earmarked for the Karma project, which received SEK 50 million from the couple three years ago, and which has made considerable scientific strides.
Since 2009, a major international project has been underway in which scientists have been studying the genes and genetic mutations...

New light shed on early stage Alzheimer’s disease

4/23/2013 3:00 AM EST

The disrupted metabolism of sugar, fat and calcium is part of the process that causes the death of neurons in Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now shown, for the first time, how important parts of the nerve cell that are involved in the cell’s energy metabolism operate in the early stages of the disease. These somewhat surprising results shed new light on how neuronal...

Mammograms reveal response to common cancer drug

4/23/2013 1:15 AM EST

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a method for assessing the effect of tamoxifen, a common drug to prevent the relapse of breast cancer. The key lies in monitoring changes in the proportion of dense tissue, which appears white on a mammogram, during treatment. Women who show a pronounced reduction in breast density during tamoxifen treatment have a fifty per cent reduction in breast...

Swedish study suggests reduced risk of dementia

4/19/2013 3:17 AM EST

A new Swedish study published in the journal Neurology shows the risk of developing dementia may have declined over the past 20 years, in direct contrast to what many previously assumed. The result is based on data from the SNAC-K, an ongoing study on aging and health that started in 1987.
“We know that cardiovascular disease is an important risk factor for dementia. The suggested decrease in dementia risk...

Scientists create phantom sensations in non-amputees

4/11/2013 7:05 AM EST

The sensation of having a physical body is not as self-evident as one might think. Almost everyone who has had an arm or leg amputated experiences a phantom limb: a vivid sensation that the missing limb is still present. A new study by neuroscientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that it is possible to evoke the illusion of having a phantom hand in non-amputated individuals.

Registry-based research – a challenge of great potential

4/10/2013 5:26 AM EST

Research using registry data can contribute a great deal to the improvement of health and healthcare. Sweden is uniquely positioned in this respect, but the resources remain under-exploited, and there are methodological and financing problems that need resolving.
Extensive databases in the form of population, patient and quality registries in healthcare have become goldmines for research in Sweden; however,...

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