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Sten Linnarsson
Photo: Ulf Sirborn
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Dear Colleagues,
With summer approaching I want to thank all of you for your efforts and achievements, and wish you some well-deserved time off to relax, travel, read or play. Personally, I look forward to some carpentry at my summer house, as well as time to read all those papers I didn’t have time to read during the first six hectic months of the year. And yes, there are still more papers to write and submit, but I will count that too as relaxation.
In the next couple of weeks, look out for the announcement of the MBB Frontier Grants 2023, and please help spread the word. The application deadline will be in September.
Sincerely,
Sten
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News from undergraduate teaching
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The students have left for summer, and the study year 2022/2023 is now in its final phase, with exam corrections and summing up activities. A sincere thank you to everyone who has contributed to MBB’s teaching activities during this period.
After a long period of intense development work, MBB has largely found its role in the new medical program, and the focus is now shifted to the development of chemistry within the biomedicine BSc program. One example of this is that we aim to launch an open preparatory chemistry website for admitted students before the summer holidays, to allow the next generation of biomedicine students to come better prepared.
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Significant effort is also invested in the laboratory segments for these students. We are keenly looking out for new initiatives to help improve biochemistry-oriented education, so all ideas are welcome.
Since April-May, we have had new staff at the Scheele lab, although not new at KI. We are happy to welcome Michaela Mårback and Annika Olsson, both taking on 40% positions at the Scheele lab. In parallel, Michaela will continue her work at Chemistry II (Jesper Z Haeggström), as likewise, Annika will continue her work at the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology (pharmacological nitric oxide research, Jon Lundberg).
Wishing you all a nice summer!
Håkan Andersson
Director of undergraduate studies
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Important information from the Administration before summer
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We are approaching summer and the half-year closing of the books and would like to take the opportunity to remind you of some important dates and deadlines from Finance and HR.
MBB’s administration will not be manned during the period 24th – 30th July.
Any general questions can be e-mailed to administration@mbb.ki.se as usual, but the response may be delayed.
Read more about important deadlines here
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Karolinska Institutet's travel insurance
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When traveling within the EU and the countries in which Sweden has health care agreements, the traveler must bring the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which confirms affiliation with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. The traveler orders the EU card from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, please visit their website for more information.
If something happens
In the event of a natural disaster/conflict/disease/accident etc, immediately contact Falck Global Assistance for instructions from caregivers or other instructions, and for continued support in processing the claim. The contact information can be found on the back of the insurance card. State the insurance number when in contact with them.
Read more about KIs insurance here
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New switchboard system - how it will affect you
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On 7 June, KI changed the telephone switchboard which leads to a few changes for staff.
The switchboard and referral system that KI has had for many years is being replaced by a modern, cloud-based communication platform called Telia Touchpoint Plus (TPP).
Telia remains as operator, so you do not need to change the SIM-card you are using today.
The most significant change for you as a user is that you get access to a phone app.
Read more about the new system here
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News and updates from the University Management
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Did you know there's a new page at the staff portal with the latest information from and about the University Management of Karolinska Institutet?
Visit the page here
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Annika Östman Wernerson, Veronika Sundström och Martin Bergö.
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Propose topics for the NOBEL SYMPOSIA 2025
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The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences invites the Swedish academic community to propose topics for the NOBEL SYMPOSIA 2025 in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economic Sciences.
Applications must be submitted no later than 13 October, 2023.
Further information and application here
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Ladok users must upgrade their accounts
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All Ladok users need to upgrade their user accounts (KI-ID) to a higher authentication assurance level before 1 July for continued access.
Ladok, the national study administration support system, is implementing changes to its identity and authorisation management. This will require users to have a higher so-called identity assurance level, AL2. The basic level is called AL1 and today the majority of KI's user accounts are set to the AL1 level.
From 1 July, you as a user will not be able to log in to Ladok until you have upgraded your account.
Read more about the upgrade here
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Create course evaluations directly in Canvas - here's what you need to know
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Billions at stake in the EU – how Stockholm Trio in Brussels is active in European research policy
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Alone, remotely, in the middle of a pandemic – this is how life in the Brussels office of the University Alliance Stockholm Trio began for the EU veteran Dan Andrée. It went at half-speed at first, but now, two and half years later, the office in the EU’s political cradle is bursting with activities.
Read more about Stockholm Trios work in Brussels here
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New procedure gives researchers access to 1.5 million COVID-19 samples stored at KI
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Biobank Sweden has teamed up with the Swedish regions and the National Pandemic Centre (NPC) at Karolinska Institutet to produce a new process that gives researchers access to 1.5 million COVID-19 samples. The samples are stored at the NPC and researchers applying to use them must first seek ethical approval.
Read more about the samples here
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Recent publications, prizes and grants
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Anna Wredenberg receives The Ascending Investigator Grant from Novo Nordisk
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Anna Wredenberg, Principal researcher in the Division of Molecular Metabolism at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at KI, has received a grant from Novo Nordisk; the Ascending Investigator Grant - Endocrinology and Metabolism 2023.
"There are no effective treatment strategies for mitochondrial dysfunction, mainly due to our lack of understanding of some basics of mitochondrial biology, but also because of the complexity of cellular metabolism. This project will identify and target cellular pathways to improve the diagnosis and treatment of mitochondrial dysfunction", says Anna Wredenberg.
Read the entire interview here
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Young Investigator award from EFSD to Frank Chenfei Ning
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Frank Chenfei Ning, postdoc in Ulf Eriksson’s group at The Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, has been awarded the 2023 Young Investigator award from the European Foundation for the study of diabetes.
"Diabetic cardiomyopathy is often underdiagnosed in the early stages due to a long asymptomatic phase, and more importantly, there is no effective treatment for diabetic cardiomyopathy. Current treatment options for type 2 diabetes and its complications, including diabetic cardiomyopathy, have a strong “blood glucose lowering” focus. However, this type of strategy has failed to improve cardiac function and reduce the risk of heart failure in diabetic patients. Therefore, there is a huge unmet need for developing new therapeutic strategies for this disease”, says Frank.
Read the entire interview here
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An adventure through the brain - a Stratneuro initiative to raise public awareness on brain research at Karolinska Institutet
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Between 13 and 19 March 2023, neuroscientists around the world took the initiative to spread the word about the importance of brain science as part of the "Brain Awareness Week".
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The Strategic Neuroscience Research Network (StratNeuro) at Karolinska Institutet took the opportunity to initiate a recurring outreach event to spark enthusiasm and raise awareness for neuroscience research, which was also part of the global campaign.
PhD students, postdocs, and researchers at Karolinska Institutet engaged in the brain fair, En resa genom hjärnan (roughly translated An adventure through the brain), with hands-on demonstrations, games and experiments.
Jens Hjerling-Leffler from our department talked about "Schizophrenia and the building blocks of the brain".
Read the article here
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Get to know your new colleagues
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Ting Sun has joined Gonçalo Castelo-Branco group as a postdoctoral researcher.
She finished her Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute of Multidisciplinary Sciences (Göttingen, Germany) where she studied the oligodendrocyte heterogeneities in mouse mutants with myelin deficiencies.
In Castelo-Branco's lab, she will focus on studying the characterization and functional readout of resilient oligodendroglia in MS lesions.
Outside of the lab, she enjoys traveling, climbing, and gaming.
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Damien Gilabert has joined Patrik Ernfors group as a postdoctoral researcher.
Damien previously did his Ph.D. at the Institute of Functional Genomics in Montpellier (France) working on the implication of purinergic signaling in microglial cells during chronic neuropathic pain and associated comorbidities.
Now, he will focus on identifying new brain nuclei and mechanisms involved in descending pain pathways.
Outside the lab, Damien enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, skiing, hiking, and practicing judo.
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Styliani Papadaki received her MSc and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Biochemistry from the Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, Greece.
During her Ph.D. studies, she investigated the role of platelet and endothelial cell activation induced by the coagulation factors Xa and thrombin in the contribution of atherothrombosis, a disease that causes many deaths worldwide.
After several years in the field of Atherothrombosis, Styliani was a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Clinical Chemistry, Department of Medicine at the University of Ioannina, Greece. Her scientific field of research was the metabolomic analysis of triple-negative breast cancer cells and the comparison of the metabolome of these cells with their resistant counterparts, as drug resistance is one of the greatest challenges for successful cancer treatment.
Styliani is now working at the laboratory of Professor Bartek and is a member of ScilifeLab.
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Jule Gerlach has joined the group of Nils-Göran Larsson as a Ph.D. student. Jule did her M.Sc in Biomedicine at the University of Amsterdam.
During her M.Sc she worked in different research groups focused on Neuroscience and Mitochondria Research. Ultimately leading her to her current Ph.D. position focused on Mitochondria Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease.
Outside the lab, she enjoys traveling, reading, and baking.
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Daria Kovalchuk is a Ph.D. student in the Rorbach Lab.
She completed her bachelor's and master's studies at the University of Lisbon (Portugal) where she studied the possible role of post-translational modifications of mitochondrial dynamics' mediators in the neurodegenerative context of Parkinson's Disease.
Since she joined Rorbarch's research group in April 2023, she is developing her Ph.D. project on the quality control mechanisms involved in mitochondrial translation.
In her free time, she likes hiking and reading.
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Editor-in-chief:
Sten Linnarsson
Editor:
Sara Lidman
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If you have comments about the newsletter or relevant news, contact Communications Officer Sara Lidman
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