About Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM)

A dynamic research environment

The Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) is part of the Department of Medicine, Huddinge and comprises 750 square metres of fully equipped laboratory facilities in ANA Futura at Karolinska Institutet Campus Flemingsberg, where the main research activities are conducted. Over the years, some research groups have had their main activities at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor- and Cell Biology at the Karolinska Institutet Solna Campus and at the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI).

Several group leaders have spent longer or shorter sabbaticals at international universities, and there is a continuous exchange of students and postdocs between CIM and other KI departments and national and international universities. By having groups at different locations and inviting researchers to work at CIM, research across disciplines is favoured and the access to research infrastructures increased.

Platform for a new generation of research leaders

Since its inauguration, CIM has successfully attracted some of the most talented young Swedish scientists actively engaged in human immunology and infectious disease research. One of the main aims of CIM is to provide an environment and platform for the fostering of a new generation of research leaders within the fields of human immunology and infectious diseases. To date, several group leaders have promoted to full professors at Karolinska Institutet, or have been appointed full professors at other national and international universities.

Our history - from basic research to clinical trials

The first idea of establishing a new translational research center with a focus on immunology and infectious disease research came about in the year 2000. The inspiration came from the identified need for more and better translational research environments in Sweden, highlighted in two reports from the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Research Council. Simultaneously, several international evaluations also emphasized the need of promoting translational research, as well as creating better platforms for interactions between basic and clinical scientists.

In 2001, the creation of a new "Center for Infectious Medicine" at Karolinska Institutet was proposed by Professor Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren and Professor Jan Andersson. It was proposed that research at the center should have a focus on basic and translational research within infection-immunity, with an intention to bring results of basic research at the center all the way to clinical trials. Furthermore, research at the center would have clinical questions of importance as grounds for the formulation of research projects.

The inauguration of CIM and 10-year anniversary

Appropriate physical localities were provided by the Karolinska University Hospital at its Huddinge site, close to the clinical Infectious Disease Department in 2001. Björn Rosén, The hospital director at that time was instrumental in this process. The Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) was completed in 2002 and inaugurated in 2003.

In 2013 CIM celebrated it’s 10-year anniversary with an open day at the center and a symposium on the theme “CIM – History and Future”. The celebrations were attended by many participants and with lectures with interesting speakers. Professor Hergen Spits, from University of Amsterdam gave a lecture on the discovery of novel innate immune cells.  Another speaker was Professor Garry Nolan, from Stanford University who presented the (at that time) next generation flow cytometry – mass cytometry.