Ida Karlsson
About me
I am an assistant professor and research group leader, interested in combining genetic and longitudinal designs to understand complex aging-related traits. My primary research aim is to understand how obesity influences late-life health, by studying how differences among adiposity-related traits and why they have different associations with age-related diseases such as dementia, cardiovascular disease, and type-2 diabetes. I am also involved in several projects aiming to understand how different factors across the life course affect dementia risk, including genetic factors, life style, and environmental exposures.
Research
Adiposity and the risk of age-related disease
The project aims to leverage the heterogeneity of adiposity-related traits, to understand better how adiposity influences the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. My hypothesis is that specific adiposity-related traits have different effects on the risk of the age-related diseases, and that these differences are explained by differences in e.g. metabolic factors or accelerated aging. I study adiposity in general (e.g. BMI and body fat distribution), and specific adiposity-related traits: a) metabolically unhealthy vs healthy adiposity- b) environmentally vs genetically driven adiposity, and c) adiposity measured in midlife vs late-life. These adiposity-related traits are associated with substantially increased, vs only slightly increased or even decreased risk of age-related disease (compared to having normal weight), and by studying what differs between them, I aim to advance our understanding of both the heterogeneity of overweight and of how adiposity in general affects late-life health.
In addition to myself, two PhD students are conducting their thesis work within this project:
- Peggy Ler, doctoral thesis title: How do body mass index and metabolic health in mid and late-life impact biological aging and mortality?
- Elsa Ojalehto, doctoral thesis title: /How does adiposity influence the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes? Exploring confounding and mediating factors
Two medical students are conducting the course "Degree project in medicine" within the project:
- Axel ryding, thesis title: Metabolic health in genetically and environmentally influenced obesity
- Martin Nakash, thesis title: Metabolically healthy obesity and the risk of dementia and cognitive decline
The Interplay of Genes and Environment across Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortium
I am part of the IGEMS consortium, which integrates data across twin studies of adult development and aging to address issues of gene-environment interplay in Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD). Within IGEMS, I lead studies of cardiometabolic risk factors of ADRD and am the lead of the Statistical Methods work group and the Genotyping and Polygenic Scores work group.
The Lifecourse Geographic Exposome in Swedish Twins (LifeGEIST) consortium
I am co-lead of the LifeGEIST consortium, together with colleagues in Sweden, the UK, and the US. Our aims are to study life course geographic circumstances in relation to dementia and other outcomes related to late-life health. Our aims are to examine 1) how genetic and environmental factors contribute to how people choose where to live, and 2) how life course geographic circumstances affect the risk of dementia and other late-life outcomes.
Within the scope of this project, I co-supervise one PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, and have supervised two master students from
Stockholm University:
- Otto-Emil Jutila, PhD thesis title: Air pollution and Dementia: Exploring genetic and epigenetic moderators and mechanisms
- Anita Paul, master thesis title: Understanding the relationship between birth weight and frailty, and differences in urban vs. rural living
- Elsa Ojalehto (as co-supervisor, now PhD student), master thesis title: Influences of genetic predisposition to higher education on social and
geographical mobility
Teaching
Course director:
- "An introduction to genetic and molecular epidemiology", Karolinska Institutet, from 2021 (PhD course, 1.5 credits)
- "Statistical Methods", School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, 2020 (PhD course, 7.5 credits)
Lecturer
Karolinska Institutet, from 2021:
- Lectures on genetic epidemiology, cognition, and dementia (bachelor and master level)
- Leader of seminars, group work, laboratory assignments in epidemiology and biostatistics
School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, 2018-2020:
- Lectures on statistical methods (doctoral level)
- Lectures on cognition and dementia (bachelor and master level)
Supervision:
- Peggy Ler, PhD student at Karolinska Institutet, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Elsa Ojalehto, PhD student at Karolinska Institutet, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Otto-Emil Jutila (as co-supervisor), PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, Precision Medicine Doctoral Training Program
- Emilija Romic (as co-supervisor), PhD student at Umeå University
- Axel ryding, medical degree student at Karolinska Institutet, HT 2023
- Martin Nakash, medical degree student at Karolinska Institutet, VT 2024
Former students:
- Anita Paul, master student from Stockholm University, Public health department, VT 2022
- Elsa Ojalehto (as co-supervisor, now PhD student), master student from Stockholm University, Public health department, VT 2022
Articles
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Article: GEROSCIENCE. 2024;46(2):2605-2617
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Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBESITY. 2024;48(3):433-436
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Article: ALZHEIMERS & DEMENTIA. 2024;20(3):1682-1692
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Article: AGING CELL. 2024;:e14132
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Article: AGING CELL. 2024;:e14135
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Article: GEROSCIENCE. 2024;46(1):961-968
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Article: JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES B-PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. 2024;79(1):gbad153
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Article: EPIGENETICS. 2023;18(1):2158285
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Article: BRAIN. 2023;146(12):4891-4902
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Article: SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE. 2023;324:115882
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Article: ECLINICALMEDICINE. 2023;58:101943
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Journal article: ALZHEIMERS & DEMENTIA. 2022;18(S11)
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Article: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. 2022;37(12):1261-1271
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Article: TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY. 2022;12(1):296
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Article: BRAIN COMMUNICATIONS. 2022;4(1):fcab308
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Article: AGE AND AGEING. 2021;50(6):2174-2182
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Article: BMC MEDICINE. 2021;19(1):248
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Article: NATURE GENETICS. 2021;53(9):1276-1282
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Article: CLINICAL EPIGENETICS. 2021;13(1):129
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Article: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2021;12(1):3417
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Article: CLINICAL EPIGENETICS. 2021;13(1):85
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Article: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 2021;11(1):7206
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Article: ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA: TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH AND CLINICAL INTERVENTIONS. 2021;7(1):e12176
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Article: JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE. 2020;288(2):234-247
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Article: BMC MEDICINE. 2020;18(1):131
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Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBESITY. 2020;44(6):1397-1405
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Article: ALZHEIMER'S AND DEMENTIA: DIAGNOSIS, ASSESSMENT AND DISEASE MONITORING. 2020;12(1):e12049
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Article: CLINICAL EPIGENETICS. 2019;11(1):187
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Article: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY. 2019;27(11):1177-1188
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Article: CLINICAL EPIGENETICS. 2019;11(1):130
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Article: STATISTICAL METHODS IN MEDICAL RESEARCH. 2019;28(6):1911-1923
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Article: BMC MEDICINE. 2019;17(1):94
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Article: NATURE GENETICS. 2019;51(3):404-413
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Article: PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE. 2019;49(2):260-267
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Article: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. 2018;33(10):977-987
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Article: NATURE GENETICS. 2018;50(7):912-919
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Article: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. 2018;47(3):899-907
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Article: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2018;9(1):2098
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Article: NEUROLOGY. 2018;90(4):e291-e297
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Article: JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMERS DISEASE. 2018;61(4):1301-1310
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Article: AGING-US. 2017;9(12):2629-2646
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Article: CIRCULATION RESEARCH. 2017;121(3):214-219
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Article: TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY. 2017;7(5):e1142
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Article: NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING. 2015;36(4):1751-1756
- Show more
All other publications
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Review: JPAD-JOURNAL OF PREVENTION OF ALZHEIMERS DISEASE. 2024;11(2):422-427
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Review: JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES A-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND MEDICAL SCIENCES. 2023;:glad251
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Corrigendum: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2023;14(1):716
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Corrigendum: NATURE GENETICS. 2022;54(7):1062
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Preprint: MEDRXIV. 2022
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Corrigendum: NATURE GENETICS. 2021;53(12):1722
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Editorial comment: FRONTIERS IN GENETICS. 2021;12:771109
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Letter: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY. 2020;28(4):499-500
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Corrigendum: NATURE GENETICS. 2020;52(3):354
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Corrigendum: NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2019;10(1):2068
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Thesis / dissertation: 2017
Employments
- Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-2028
- Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Health and Welfare, Institute of Gerontology, Jönköping University, 2017-2020
Degrees and Education
- Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 2017
- Master Of Medical Science, Karolinska Institutet, 2010