Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care
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Current in the Division
Caroline Wachtler Appointed New Head of Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, NVS
On 1 January, Caroline Wachtler took up her role as the new Head of the Division of Primary Care and Family Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.
The remit is broad, with a clear focus on research, education, and close collaboration with primary care—particularly through the Academic Primary Care Centre (APC).
Congratulations to Erland Axelsson on receiving grants from the Swedish Research Council!
Erland Axelsson, researcher, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society
Project: What makes exposure therapy effective for individuals with clinically significant symptom preoccupation? A randomised controlled dismantling trial of exposure and response prevention
Grant: SEK 11,1 million (research time grant)
Congratulations to Katharina Schmidt-Mende on receiving grants from Forte and the Swedish Research Council!
Katharina Schmidt-Mende has been awarded SEK 7,779,000 by Forte for the project “Reduced Emergency Care for Frail Older People”, which aims to test and implement the HomeFirst model of care. HomeFirst is based on close collaboration between primary care and home care services, with the goal of reducing unnecessary emergency department visits and hospital admissions among frail older people through more proactive care in the home. The project is expected to contribute to improved care and increased security for older patients.
Katharina Schmidt-Mende, , researcher
Project: Navigating benefits and risks: challenges in implementing treatment guidelines for older and frail heart failure patients in primary care
Grant: SEK 6 million (establishment grant) and SEK 6,7 million (research time grant) from Swedish Research Council
Congratulations to Elinor Nemlander on receiving grants from the Swedish Research Council
Project title: A blood test–based risk model for early cancer detection in primary care
The project aims to improve early cancer diagnosis in primary care by using changes in commonly collected blood tests—particularly haemoglobin and platelet counts, as early risk signals for cancer. Using data from the population-based STEADY-CAN cohort (>2.7 million individuals), risk prediction models will be developed and evaluated using both machine learning and traditional statistical methods.
The project’s principal investigator (Elinor Nemlander) has been awarded an Establishment Grant from the Swedish Research Council amounting to SEK 11 million for the period 2025–2032.
Articles published by our researchers.
Below is a list of articles written by researchers at the division.
The call for application to the Research School in Family Medicine and Primary Care 2026-2028 is open
The call for application to the research school 2026-2028 starts 15 December 2025, 15:00 h, and last day for application is 6 March 2026, 14:00 h.
Are you a doctoral student or planning to become one? Join a structured research education program alongside others who, like you, are conducting research relevant to primary care.
The Research School is one of Karolinska Institutet’s clinical research schools. It is aimed at doctoral students who are clinically active in primary care or whose research projects are relevant to the field. The research school offers most of the courses required for doctoral education, including statistics, epidemiology, qualitative methods, development and evaluation of interventions, quality assurance of clinical research (GCP), and scientific writing. The doctoral students’ projects ensure that the courses are grounded in primary care and clinically relevant.
In collaboration with Region Stockholm, the research school provides salary compensation to the clinics of 16 doctoral students during course weeks (4 weeks per semester).
The call for applications for the Research School starting in autumn 2026 will open in Prisma around the turn of the year 2025–2026 and close in March 2026. Admission decisions will be announced in May.