Department of Neuroscience

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new comprehensive mapping of genetic activity for understanding the causes of chronic pain. The study, published in Nature Communications, opens way to more efficient non-addictive treatment for chronic pain and potentially headache disorders.

It is through our sensory perception that we experience our environment and bodily sensations. François Lallemend is studying the mechanisms underlying these perceptions in the hope of finding new treatments for sensory impairment. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 3 October.

Dongan Wang, Professor at Department of Biomedical Engineering of City University Hong Kong, has been appointed Foreign Adjunct Professor at Department of Neuroscience at KI during 2024-2026. His research focuses on biomaterials, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and molecular pharmaceutics. He has a special interest in functional biomaterials for tissue engineering and therapeutic cell delivery; nucleic acid delivery for therapeutic engineering; and engineered biomimetic tissue platforms for in vitro drug evaluation.

The increase in gun violence and Sweden's changing security situation has prompted researcher Mattias Günther and his team to reorient their research. He tells us how to reduce deaths from severe bleeding - and how best to protect yourself. Listen to the interview in episode #140 (in Swedish).

Torkel Klingberg is a professor of neurology at the Karolinska Institutet and is interested in how our various circumstances – our genes, socioeconomic circumstances and length of education – can affect how our cognitive abilities develop.

Many of us get headaches from time to time, without it causing too much trouble. But for those who suffer from migraines, or worse from cluster headaches, it may imply a severe disability. Andrea Carmine Belin’s research focuses on the genetics behind cluster headache, a condition sometimes referred to as “suicide headache”.

Sherlock Holmes was an idol when she was a child and her mother suggested the research profession early on. But it was not a straight path to science for Marie Carlén. Today she leads advanced studies on the part of the brain that shapes us as individuals.

Hugo Zeberg's research focuses on different gene variants, inherited from the Neanderthal, and how they affect fertility and the risk of being infected by various diseases. Listen to episode #67 of Medicinvetarna to find out more (in Swedish).

He also answers the question whether humans have developed genetically at all since the Stone Age, in episode #76.