Installation ceremony 2024 – meet our new professors
On Thursday 3 October 2024, 18 new professors were inaugurated at Karolinska Institutet in solemn forms in Aula Medica. In addition, we gave our new adjunct and visiting professors a warm welcome, and honoured recipients of several academic awards. The professors' installation ceremony is one of the highlights of the academic year. Articles on this page are published in the booklet 'From Cell to Society 2024', which was distributed at the ceremony.
New professors
Photo: Rickard KilströmWants to personalise prostate cancer treatment
Prostate cancer accounts for more male deaths in Sweden than any other form of cancer. However, how the disease progresses and how fatal it is depend on the type of tumour. Olof Akre hopes to find better prognostic indicators that will help to personalise treatment.
Photo: Rickard KilströmStudying inflammatory liver disease
Patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) often develop liver failure and the risk of cancer is high. Annika Bergquist hopes her research will add to the understanding of the disease and lead to more efficacious treatment.
Photo: Rickard KilströmImproving diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes with AI
As the volume of clinical data increases, so does the amount and complexity of the work needed for a doctor to interpret them. Magnus Boman researches on how AI can be employed for healthcare-improving analyses.
Photo: Rickard KilströmResearching the mechanisms driving chronic inflammatory skin disease
A third of the Swedish population lives with a chronic inflammatory skin disease, such as psoriasis, eczema and vitiligo. Liv Eidsmo is mapping the skin’s T cells to better understand why the diseases often recur at the same place.
Photo: Rickard KilströmStudying the molecular processes of cell division
Errors during cell division can lead to conditions such as cancer and infertility. Jan Ellenberg studies the molecular processes of cell division in order that these diseases can eventually be prevented and treated.
Photo: Rickard KilströmExploring the mechanisms of sensory perception
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.
Photo: Rickard KilströmResearching how a virus affects aggressive skin cancer
Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive and often fatal form of skin cancer. Weng-Onn Lui intends to find out how the Merkel cell polyomavirus influences tumour growth and the development of treatment resistance.
Photo: Rickard KilströmSeeking the factors that lead to illness and injury
Finding out who falls ill and why is essential to preventative action. Jette Möller conducts epidemiological research on our major health issues – cardiovascular disease, mental ill-health and injuries.
Photo: Rickard KilströmWorking to improve vaccine efficacy for children with cancer
Children who have undergone treatment for cancer often lose the protection against infection provided by previous vaccinations. Anna Nilsson is studying how cancer therapies affect the immune system in order to improve vaccination guidelines for these children.
Photo: Rickard KilströmResearching congenital growth and skeletal diseases
The understanding of congenital growth and skeletal diseases is currently limited. Ola Nilsson hopes to pave the way for new therapeutic strategies by charting the mechanisms driving these diseases.
Photo: Rickard KilströmSeeking to understand how nerve signals regulate inflammation
Unrestrained inflammation is associated with many diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Peder Olofsson wants to understand how nerve signals regulate inflammation to ultimately improve therapeutic options.
Photo: Rickard KilströmHelping medical scientists analyse causal relationships
Arvid Sjölander works with statistical tools and mathematical models to help medical scientists make more reliable estimations of causal effects. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet.
Photo: Rickard KilströmStudying the function of the immune system in respiratory infections
Acute respiratory infections are one of the most common reasons for medical treatment in Sweden and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Anna Smed Sörensen hopes that a better understanding of the immune system in the airways will make serious disease preventable.
Photo: Rickard KilströmResearching how fat cells impact disease in humans
Our fat cells not only store energy, they are also involved in many physiological processes. Kirsty Spalding researches how dysfunctional fat cells impact health and disease in humans.
Photo: Rickard KilströmStudies what happens in the brain with Parkinson’s disease
Andrea Varrone uses PET technology to study how the brain changes in Parkinson’s disease. His aim is to develop new imaging tools that can be used for making early diagnoses and measuring the effects of different therapies.
Photo: Rickard KilströmSeeking new treatments for immunodeficiency diseases
Many immunodeficiency diseases are serious conditions that require stem cell transplantation. Lisa Westerberg is studying how mutations prevent immune cells from moving properly in order to find new therapeutic strategies.
Photo: Rickard KilströmSeeking a better understanding of mitochondrial diseases
Mitochondrial diseases are inherited and often affect children. With no effective treatment currently available, Anna Wredenberg hopes to discover more about mitochondrial function in order to improve both diagnosis and treatment.
Photo: Rickard KilströmSeeking approaches to preventing dementia
Concurrent with the ageing global population is a growing need of preventative action on age-related diseases. Weili Xu is studying how cardiovascular disease and diabetes influence the risk of developing cognitive failure and dementia.
We also celebrate
New Adjunct Professors
New Visiting Professors and Foreign Adjunct Professors
Awardees of 2024
Learn more
Academic ceremonies
Karolinska Institutet arranges various academic ceremonies each year. Activities include conferring of doctor's degrees, professorial awards and academic prizes.
Photo: Fredrik PerssonHow professors are made at KI
Since 2011 universities and institutions of higher education in Sweden have had greater freedom to decide themselves on the appointment of a professor. KI has chosen to expose professorships to competition and has abolished the right to be promoted.
Photo: Pierre Zoetterman