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Jesper Lagergren
Professor Jesper Lagergren is research group leader of the group Upper GI Surgery at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery.
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Upper GI Surgery – Jesper Lagergren's research group
The research group originates from surgical activities of the oesophagus and stomach, and conducts clinically oriented research examining diseases and surgery of these organs. Focus area is cancer, but we also have a long history of research regarding gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, obesity surgery and Helicobacter pylori. The aim is that our research will contribute to a decreased incidence and increased life expectancy in the people who suffer from these diseases or need to undergo surgery.
Part of the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery
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News Upper GI Surgery
Staff and contact
Group leader
- Jesper LagergrenProfessor/Senior Physician | Docent
Contact persons
- Emilia MarklundResearch Administrator
All members of the group
- Gunnar AhlbergAffiliated to Research
- Johannes AsplundAffiliated to Research
- Onyinyechi DuruPhd Student
- Ivan ErnuddPhd Student
- Eivind GottliebAffiliated to Research
- Johan Hardvik ÅkerströmPhd Student
- Dag HolmbergPostdoctoral Studies
- Yongying HuangAffiliated to Research
- Catarina JanssonAffiliated to Research | Docent
- Ellen JonsonPhd Student
- Joonas KauppilaAffiliated to Research
- Jesper LagergrenProfessor/Senior Physician | Docent
- Wilhelm LeijonmarckPhd Student
- Ellinor LundbergPhd Student
- Emilia MarklundResearch Administrator
- Fredrik MattssonStatistician
- Cecilia RadkiewiczAffiliated to Research
- Giola SantoniStatistician
- Anna-Klara WiklundPhd Student
- Shaohua XiePrincipal Researcher | Docent
Who we are
Contact us
Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery
Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery
Retzius väg 13 a, level 4
171 77 Stockholm
Visiting address: Retzius väg 13 a-b, level 4, KI Campus, Solna
Phone: +46-(0)8 524 84 141
Group leader
Jesper Lagergren
Professor/Senior PhysicianAdministration
Emilia Marklund
Research AdministratorActivities and International Co-operations
Activities at the Upper GI Surgery group
History and future goals
Job vacancies at the group
Published or accepted peer reviewed articles
News - Upper GI Surgery
New Research Administrator
We are happy to be able to announce that Emilia Marklund has been recruited as Research Administrator in our group.
New members
We have recently recruited Ellen Jonson and Victoria Wocalewski as new PhD students with us. Very welcome!
New study in Gastroenterology
Our study "Risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma after Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment in a population-based multinational cohort study" has been accepted for publication in Gastroenterology (impact factor 29.4). Anna-Klara Wiklund is the first author. We found no increased risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (or squamous cell carcinoma) after eradication of Helicobacter pylori in a study from the 5 Nordic countries.
Recent High-Impact Publications from our research group
Our research team continues to make significant progress with recent publications in prestigious journals.
“The risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma after antireflux surgery among patients with Barrett’s esophagus”
A recently accepted study in the esteemed journal Gastroenterology (impact factor 29.4) shows no lower risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma following antireflux surgery compared to antireflux medication among patients with Barrett's esophagus. The authors are Johan Hardvik Åkerström, Dag Holmberg, Joonas Kauppila, Eivind Ness-Jensen, My Von Euler-Chelpin, Giola Santoni, and Jesper Lagergren.
“Magnitude and time-trends of post-endoscopy esophageal adenocarcinoma and post-endoscopy esophageal neoplasia in a population-based cohort study – the Nordic Barrett’s Esophagus Study”
This population-based cohort study was published in Gastroenterology (impact factor 29.4). It shows a high magnitude of post-endoscopy esophageal adenocarcinoma in patients with Barrett’s oesophagus. Notably, the study's success was made possible through a productive international collaboration, uniting our research team with esteemed counterparts in the United States, Denmark, and Finland. The authors are Sachin Wani, Dag Holmberg, Giola Santoni, Joonas Kauppila, Martti Farkkila, My von Euler-Chelpin, Nicholas Shaheen, and Jesper Lagergren. Link to the publication in PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37279832/
“Non-erosive reflux disease and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma”
A recently accepted study in British Medical Journal (impact factor 105.7) found no association between endoscopy-verified non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) and the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. The article was authored by Dag Holmberg, Giola Santoni, My Von Euler-Chelpin, Marika Färkkilä, Joonas Kauppila, Jan Maret-Ouda, Eivind Ness-Jensen, and Jesper Lagergren.
Achievements and Activities of Our Research Group at United European Gastroenterology Week in Copenhagen
Several from our group will go to the United European Gastroenterology week in Copenhagen in October. We are delighted to share some important results of our research group at the upcoming conference. With Johan Hardvik Åkerström as first author, our study titled "Antireflux Surgery vs Antireflux Medication and Risk of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma in Patients with Barrett’s Esophagus" has been selected as one of only 5 Top Abstracts and been awarded a prize of €10,000. Johan will also give an oral presentation of the study titled "Decreased Risk of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma after Gastric Bypass Surgery in a Cohort Study from Three Nordic Countries." Dag Holmberg will give an oral presentation of the study titled "Non-Erosive Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Risk of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma". Jesper Lagergren will give an invited lecture about recent research in “Decreased Deaths in Oesophageal Cancer” and chair two abstract sessions.
New Study Accepted for Publication by Annals of Surgery
The article "Decreased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma after gastric bypass surgery in a cohort study from three Nordic countries" has been accepted by the prestigious journal Annals of Surgery (impact factor 13.8). The article has also been selected as one of the best in the journal by the editor-in-chief, adding further recognition to the study. The first author of the article is PhD student Johan Hardvik Åkerström. Other authors include Dag Holmberg, Joonas Kauppila, Eivind Ness-Jensen, My von Euler-Chelpin, Giola Santoni and the last author is Jesper Lagergren.
New publication in a high-ranked journal: Surgeon proficiency gain and survival after gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma
The European Journal of Cancer (impact factor 10) has accepted the study with the title “Surgeon proficiency gain and survival after gastrectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma: A population-based cohort study”.
The study identified surgeon proficiency gain curves for gastrectomy regarding long-term survival in gastric adenocarcinoma, which seem to be at least partly mediated by improvements regarding tumour-free resection margins and lymph node yield. The findings suggest that surgeons should conduct at least 20 gastrectomies with experienced support before performing these operations independently. The authors are Johannes Asplund, Hugh Mackenzie, Sheraz Markar and Jesper Lagergren.
Sirus Rabbani oand Opponent Deirdre Cronin Fenton
Dissertation Sirus Rabbani
Warm congratulations to Sirus Rabbani for an excellent performance at the dissertation on Friday 24th March.
The opponent was Deirdre Cronin Fenton from Aarhus University. Read Sirus thesis here: The male predominance in oesophageal adenocarcinoma and the role of sex hormones.
Johannes Asplund and Opponent Kristoffer Lassen
Dissertation Johannes Asplund
Warm congratulations to Johannes Asplund for an excellent dissertation on November 25th 2022.
Opponent was Professor Kristoffer Lassen from Oslo University. Read Johannes´s thesis here: Towards an improved survival in gastric cancer
Eivind Gottlieb
Eivind Gottlieb-Vedi is awarded the Dimitris N. Chorafas prize 2022
Eivind Gottlieb, senior researcher at the Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery research group, at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery is awarded the prestigious Dimitris N. Chorafas prize for his doctoral thesis Improved surgical treatment of oesophageal cancer.
The prize amounts to 5.000 USD and is meant to reward pre-graduate scientific contributions within the doctoral education.
Prize motivation:
"Dr. Eivind Gottlieb-Vedi is awarded the 2022 Dimitris N. Chorafas prize for his efforts to improve the clinical management of patients undergoing surgery for oesophageal cancer. In his doctoral thesis, Eivind determined that among several possible surgical approaches, so-called keyhole surgery consistently improved long-term survival; established that extensive removal of lymph nodes does not influence clinical outcome and should be avoided; and developed practical guidelines about how to best train oesophageal cancer surgeons for improving the clinical outcomes. The results are rigorous and statistically sound, published in top journals in the field, and are readily implementable in clinical practice."
Thesis Improved surgical treatment of oesophageal cancer
Newsarticle at KI.se Eivind Gottlieb receives the Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize 2022
Dag Holmberg
Funding from Gastrointestinal foundation
Dag Holmberg, research specialist at the Upper GI Surgery research group has been awarded 200 000 SEK grant from the Mag-Tarmfonden (Gastrointestinal foundation) for his planned study about endoscopic treatment of cell changes in the esophagus, Barrett's esophagus. Dag is the recipient of the largest grant issued by the foundation, which amounted a total of 800 000 SEK distributed among 6 researchers.
Read more about this news: https://nyheter.ki.se/forskning-om-mag-och-tarmsjukdomar-far-stod-fran-mag-tarmfonden-0
Funding from the Swedish Cancer Society
Jesper Lagergren received project funding 6.75 million SEK (2.25 million/year) for the next 3 years (2022-2024) from the Swedish Cancer Society. Sheraz Markar received 2.4 million SEK (0.8 million/year) for the same period. These funding covers several research projects ongoing in our group.
Funding from the Nordic Cancer Union
Jesper Lagergren received 80,000 EUR from the Nordic Cancer Union for year 2022. The grant increased from year 2021 and will fund the Nordic Helicobacter Pylori Eradication Project (NordHePEP), which focuses on the link between Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment and cancer risk (especially and oesophageal adenocarcinoma) in the Nordic countries.
Planning day
Monday 15th November the research groups Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery (UGIS) and Surgical Care Science (SCS) met at Hotel Skeppsholmen for a Planning Day. The outcomes from the last year’s planning day were presented by the research group leaders Jesper Lagergren (UGIS) and Pernilla Lagergren (SCS). Future plans and goals for the years ahead were discussed for each work category – administration and senior researchers, PhD students and statisticians, as well as all together.
The groups also took part to a session lead by Anders Wiberg, from KI Health Promotion, which focused on how to integrate physical activities in the office's daily life.
It was nice to finally meet in person and to discuss our future work and set the aims to develop our research!
The prestigious journal Gastroenterology (impact factor 22.7)
has accepted our original study titled “Incidence and mortality in upper gastrointestinal cancer after negative endoscopy for gastroesophageal reflux disease”, which is based on data from the Nordic Antireflux Surgery Cohort (NordASCo). Among the authors are Dag Holmberg (first author), Giola Santoni, Joonas Kauppila, John Maret-Ouda and Eivind Ness-Jensen and Jesper Lagergren (last author).
This cohort study included >1 million patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Patients with a normal upper endoscopy had strongly decreased risks of developing upper gastrointestinal cancer for 5 years as well as of dying from upper gastrointestinal mortality for 10 years, compared to patients who did not undergo endoscopy. This information may guide future screening and surveillance strategies.
Photo: Giulia Marras
Warm congratulations to Eivind Gottlieb-Vedi for his excellent thesis defence
which took place Friday the 10th of September at Bioclinicum (Karolinska Hospital). Professor Jane Blazeby from Bristol University was the opponent and joined the defence on Zoom.
Joonas Kauppila appointed professor at Oulu University
Joonas Kauppila, affiliated researcher in our research group (Upper GI Surgery), has been appointed a professorship in clinical epidemiology at Oulu University in Finland. The position, which includes 30% research, starts in September 2021. Joonas will be one of the youngest ever professors within the medical faculty in Finland. He did his postdoc in our research group with Jesper Lagergren as supervisor.
Many warmest congratulations to this enormous success Joonas!
Photo: Giulia Marras
Congratulations to Jiaojiao Zheng
for an excellent thesis defence on Friday the 11th June. The defence took place on site and on Zoom.
New study in Annals of Surgery
The study titled “Extent of lymphadenectomy and long-term survival in esophageal cancer” has been accepted for publication in the prestigious surgery journal Annals of Surgery (Impact Factor 10.1). First author is Eivind Gottlieb and last author is Jesper Lagergren. Other authors are Joonas H. Kauppila, Fredrik Mattsson, Jakob Hedberg, Jan Johansson, David Edholm, Pernilla Lagergren, and Magnus Nilsson. The paper, which will be included in Eivind Gottlieb´s thesis, was a population-based cohort study from Sweden and Finland. The results indicate that extensive lymphadenectomy during surgery does not improve survival in esophageal cancer. However, the results suggest that removal of a moderate amount (20-30) lymph nodes may be an optimum range in patients with advanced tumor stages (T3/T4) and in those not receiving neoadjuvant therapy.
Photo: Giulia Marras
Congratulations to Manar Yanes
for his excellent thesis defence on 26th March 2021, which took place both on site (KI Campus) and on Zoom.
New publication in Gastroenterology
A study based on the Nordic Antireflux Surgery Cohort (NordASCo), titled “Mortality, reoperation and hospital stay within 90 days of primary and secondary antireflux surgery in a population-based multinational study" has been accepted for publication in the journal Gastroenterology (impact factor 17.4).
First author is Manar Yanes, who will include this study in his PhD thesis. Other authors from our group are Giola Santoni, John Maret-Ouda, Sheraz Markar, Eivind Ness-Jensen, Joonas Kauppila, and Jesper Lagergren (chief investigator).
First paper from the Swedish gastric cancer surgery study (SWEGASS)
The first paper from the Swedish gastric cancer surgery study (SWEGASS) has been accepted for publication in Acta Oncologica. The title is “Prognosis after surgery for gastric adenocarcinoma in the Swedish gastric cancer surgery study (SWEGASS)" and is a cohort description combined with analyses of some prognostic factors: tumour stage, comorbidity, age, and calendar period were independently prognostic, while sex, pre-operative chemotherapy, tumour sub-localisation, and education were not. The authors are Johannes Asplund, Eivind Gottlieb-Vedi, Wilhelm Leijonmarck, Fredrik Mattsson, and Jesper Lagergren.
Open call for a postdoctoral researcher in upper gastrointestinal cancer
This is a 2-year, full-time position which involves studies examining the risk and prognosis in oesophageal and gastric cancer. Deadline for the applications is 4th February.
For more information: Postdoctoral Researcher in upper gastrointestinal cancer (varbi.com)
New publication in prestigious medical journal - JAMA
John Maret-Ouda, Sheraz Markar and Jesper Lagergren have written a narrative review on gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which has been published in the very prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which has an impact factor of 45.5. This publication contributes to maintain the high reputation of our research group internationally.
Link to publication: Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: A Review
Grant from the Sjöberg Foundation
Jesper Lagergren (main applicant), Giola Santoni and Shaohua Xie have been awarded a research grant of 4,000,000 SEK for 3 years from the Sjöberg Foundation for the project entitled “The risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma after eradication treatment of Helicobacter pylori”.
See also: https://news.ki.se/sek-12-million-awarded-from-the-sjoberg-foundation
Grant from the Nordic Cancer Union
Jesper Lagergren has received a research grant of 60,000 EUR from the Nordic Cancer Union for the project “The risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma after eradication treatment of Helicobacter pylori”.
Grant from Stockholm Cancer Society
Jesper Lagergren has received 2.4 million SEK during the coming 3-year period from the Stockholm Cancer Society for the research project “Oesophageal cancer: Aetiology, prevention and therapy”.
A new study has been accepted for publication in the prestigious surgery journal Annals of Surgery (impact factor 10.2)
By combining data from Sweden (SOEGAS) and Finland (FINEGO) we could conduct a large and population-based cohort study that showed 18% decreased all-cause 5-year mortality following minimally invasive oesophagectomy (n=470) compared to open oesophagectomy (n=794). The survival benefit was clearer for total minimally invasive surgery (23%) than for hybrid variants (13%). Eivind Gottlieb-Vedi is first author and the other authors are Joonas Kauppila, Fredrik Mattsson, Mats Lindblad, Magnus Nilsson, Pernilla Lagergren, Ioannis Rouvelas, and Jesper Lagergren.
Sheraz Markar
received 6 million SEK for the 4-year period 2021-2024 from the Swedish Research Council in order to establish his research at Karolinska Institutet. The project that will be conducted during this 4-year period is called SARONG and is an RCT that will compare the survival and patient-reported outcomes after intensive vs less intensive follow-up with imaging after oesophageal or gastric cancer surgery.
Shaohua Xie
has become Docent in Cancer Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet.
Shaohua Xie
Principal ResearcherKID funding
Jesper Lagergren, Sheraz Markar and Fredrik Mattsson have received KID-funding (1.4 million SEK for 4 years) and will supervise a new PhD student in a project entitled “Improved survival in gastric cancer”.
The project will be based on data from the national Swedish cohort SOEGAS, specifically from (SWEGASS), which includes data for all patients with a diagnosis of gastric cancer in Sweden from year 2006 onwards.
SWEREG (Swedish register-based research network) first web-based conference
SWEREG is a Swedish network consisting of seven research nodes, including our node (UGIR, Upper Gastrointestinal Research), and one research school in registry-based research.
On October the 1st we arranged the first SWEREG conference (Zoom webinar) together with the MEB-node of statisticians. The webinar was attended by 70 participants. During the conference each node presented and discussed their own research with other nodes and identified areas of collaboration that are be valuable for the network. The remaining part of the webinar was dedicated to group discussions about collaborations.
Planning day Upper GI Research
Planning Day 2020
The Upper GI Surgery and Surgical Care Science research groups held a Planning Day on Friday October 16th.
To allow members of the group who work from home and those who live abroad to participate, the event took place both in our office premises and on Zoom and lasted for a half-day.
The research group leaders, Jesper Lagergren (UGIR) and Pernilla Lagergren (SCS) presented the outcomes from last year´s planning day and what was on the schedule for this day. We were divided into 4 groups (Administration, Biostatisticians, PhD students and Researchers) and discussed what can be improved and/or changed to develop our work and research.
The day started with a nice breakfast for those in the office and ended with a lunch and a nice walk through the Autumn colored KI campus.
Research Internship
Sirus Rabbani, PhD student at Upper GI Surgery, has received a Research Internship position (“Forskar-AT”) at Karolinska University Hospital.
This competitive position allows him funded research time as well a popular internship for the next couple of years.
He will start this new position in 8th March. Congratulations!
ALF grant
According to a preliminary notice, Jesper Lagergren will receive a continued project grant of 2.4 million SEK during the next three years (2021-2023) from ALF Medicine. The project has the title "Reduced death in oesophageal and gastric cancer by clinical research addressing its aetiology, prevention and therapy" and includes research based on data from the data sources NordHePEP, NordOSCo and SOEGAS.
Top abstract at UEGW
Manar Yanes and colleagues got a “Best abstract” award at the United European Gastroenterology Week: The abstract with the title LARYNGEAL AND PHARYNGEAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA AFTER ANTIREFLUX SURGERY IN THE FIVE NORDIC COUNTRIES was scored among the highest in one of the main topic categories of this very large conference.
Paper in Annals of Surgery
Manar Yanes and colleagues got acceptance from the top surgery journal Annals of Surgery (impact factor 10.3) for a study with the title LARYNGEAL AND PHARYNGEAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA AFTER ANTIREFLUX SURGERY IN THE FIVE NORDIC COUNTRIES. It is based on data from the Nordic Antireflux Surgery Cohort (NordASCo) indicating that antireflux surgery decreases the risk of laryngeal and pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
New study on risk factors for suicide after bariatric surgery published in Annals of Surgery
A study examining risk factors for suicide after bariatric surgery has been accepted for publication in Annals of Surgery, the top surgery journal (impact factor 9.5). The study was based on data collected in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. The main finding was that a history of ppsychiatric disorders increases the risk of suicide after bariatric surgery, indicating a role for tailored preoperative psychiatric evaluation and postoperative surveillance. Authors from our group were Joonas Kauppila (first author), Giola Santoni, Wenjing Tao, Eivind Ness-Jensen, and Jesper Lagergren (last author).
Hilda and Alfred Eriksson's Prize
Jesper Lagergren will be awarded the 2020 Hilda and Alfred Eriksson's Prize together with Pernilla Lagergren. They receive this prestigious prize "for their important contributions to understanding oesophageal cancer, its patterns, treatment, quality of life and survival".
The Hilda and Alfred Eriksson's Prize is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for outstanding research "for the relief of diseases both in humans and animals".
Dissertation Qiaoli Wang
Congratulations to Qiaoli Wang on her excellent thesis defense Friday the 6th of March 2020.
Permanent post for Giulia Marras
Giulia will have a permanent employment as executive assistant of Jesper and Pernilla. We highly appreciate the work she has done so far and look forward to continued collaboration for hopefully a very long time to come.
New publication in a high-ranked journal
A nationwide Swedish cohort study (based on SPREDH) including 411,603 (5%) users of the diabetes medication metformin and 4,116,030 controls found a decreased risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma among the metformin users (adjusted HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.54-0.85). The paper has today been accepted for publication in American Journal of Gastroenterology (impact factor 10.2). All authors were from our group: Qiaoli, Giola, Eivind (Ness-Jensen), Jesper and Shaohua. The paper will be included in Qiaoli’s thesis.
Move to KI Campus
Our group will move to KI Campus area 2nd December. We have highly appreciated our current offices at Norra Stationsgatan 67 for the last 10 years, but now very much look forward to moving in the central part of the campus area of Karolinska Institutet. We will have our new nice offices in the top floor of Retzius väg 13 b.
PhD defense Wenjing Tao
Congratulations to Wenjing Tao on her brilliant thesis defense Friday 4th of October 2019.
A new study was accepted for publication in the American Journal of Gastroenterology
The study highlights how variations in serum levels of different sex hormones affect the risk of developing esophageal cancer of the adenocarcinoma type. Writers from our group were Shaohua Xie, Eivind Ness-Jensen, Sirus Rabbani, Fredrik Mattsson and Jesper Lagergren.
We received funding as a research node in register-based research from the Swedish Research Council!
We got 13 million SEK during the next 5-year period (starting from this year already). Jesper Lagergren was the main applicant and the co-applicants were Pernilla Lagergren, Shaohua Xie, Giola Santoni, Sheraz Markar och Helen Rosenlund. This is absolutely great news. We are the only node that got this funding 3 times. Congratulations to both our groups and our shared node!
Article published in BMJ
After a lot of work, we got a paper accepted in BMJ today! The first author was Emma Sverdén and I was last. Emma has done the main work and is to be congratulated to an excellent paper. It is a review about peptic ulcer disease. The impact factor of BMJ is 27.6.
Reference: Sverdén E, Agreus L, Dunn J, Lagergren J. Peptic ulcer – Clinical update. BMJ.
Dissertation Dag Holmberg
Congratulations to Dag Holmberg on his excellent thesis defence Wednesday 5th of June 2019
Jesper Lagergren and Pernilla Lagergren
Teachers on a course on Hawaii
In February the research group leaders Jesper Lagergren, from Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery, and Pernilla Lagergren, from Surgical Care Sciences, were teachers on the course “Medical and Surgical Aspects of Esophageal and Foregut Disorders: Pathophysiology and Treatment” on Hawaii. They were both invited as Keynote speakers. Jesper had as many as 5 hours of teaching. For the first time the course content included topics on health-related quality of life and patient-reported outcomes which Pernilla did talk about. It was an intensive full-time course week (8-10 hours per day) with mandatory participation during the entire course by teachers and participants. There were a lot of discussions and debates with 115 well prepared participants with great knowledge in the diseases of the oesophagus.
Dissertation Eva Doorakkers
Congratulations Eva Doorakkers for a well conducted dissertation on January 25th, 2019.
We got a new paper accepted in Annals of Surgery, the top 1 journal in surgery
It was a systematic review and meta-analysis based on 55 studies and 14,582 patients, showing 18% lower 5-year all-cause mortality after minimally invasive esophagectomy compared to open esophagectomy (HR=0.82, 95% CI 0.76-0.88). The finding suggests that minimally invasive esophagectomy can be recommended as a standard surgical approach for esophageal cancer. The authors were: Eivind Gottlieb-Vedi, Joonas Kauppila, George Malietzis, Magnus Nilsson, Sheraz Markar and Jesper Lagergren.
Planning Day. The Upper GI surgery and the Surgical Care Science research groups
Planning Day 2018
The Upper GI surgery and the Surgical Care Science research groups had a joint planning day at Paschens Malmgård at Bellevue 4th of October. We listened to a surgeon, Ioannis Rouvelas, about the care pathway at Huddinge hospital and to a patient describing her journey through the diagnosis and treatment. After a visit to Carl Eldhs museum we used the afternoon to discuss future research possibilities an how to improve our work. The day gave perspectives and renewed motivation.
Dissertation Sheraz Markar
Congratulations to Sheraz Markar on his excellent thesis defence Friday 14th of September!
New publication in BMJ
We are pleased to have got an article accepted for publication in BMJ with the title ”Management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding”. The authors are Emma Sverdén, Sheraz Markar, Lars Agreus and Jesper Lagergren.
Recruitment of a PhD
Johannes Asplund has been recruited as a PhD in the project ”Surgical treatment of gastric cancer” with Jesper Lagergren as main supervisor. Warmly welcome Johannes!
Johannes Asplund
Affiliated to ResearchResearch grant from CRUK
Jesper has as PI, together with Shaohua Xie and Eivind Ness Jensen as co applicants, received a 2-year grant of approximately 2 MSEK from Cancer Research United Kingdom (CRUK). The project is about circulating sex hormone levels and the risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
New PhD student within the Clinical Scientist Training Programme
Sirus Rabbani received funding from the Clinical Scientist Training Programme (CSTP) at KI, which supports salaries of selected PhD candidates who start their PhD studies during their medical studies. The PhD project is entitled “The male predominance in oesophageal adenocarcinoma and the role of sex hormones” and assistant Professor Shaohua Xie will be main supervisor. Warmly welcome Sirus!
Paper accepted in Annals of Surgery
We have a paper accepted for publication in Annals of Surgery, the leading surgery journal, based on data from England. It shows a decreased risk of oesophageal cancer after antireflux surgery. These findings are in line with the results of the recently accepted paper in JAMA Oncology. First author was Sheraz Markar, doctoral student in our group and Jesper Lagergren was the last author.
Paper accepted in Jama Oncology
After 4 years of work to put together a cohort of almost 1 million patients from all Nordic countries, we now have got the first study from the cohort accepted for publication in JAMA Oncology.
The study shows that antireflux surgery (and medication) prevents the development of oesophageal cancer. John Maret Ouda, affiliated researcher, was the first author and Jesper Lagergren the last.
Jesper Lagergren, SIMSAM UGIR (KI) och Gunnar Andersson, SIMSAM SUNDEM (SU)
10-year symposium of SIMSAM: The Future of Swedish Register-Based Research
SIMSAM (short for Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social And Medical Sciences) is a 10-year initiative of funding of innovative interdisciplinary register-based research by the Swedish Research Council. Together with the SIMSAM-node SUNDEM at Stockholm University, we (in the capacity of the SIMSAM-node UGIR) jointly arranged an open national one day symposium to acknowledge achievements of the six research nodes and the research school node and to discuss future developments.
The leaders of the seven SIMSAM nodes presented their valuable experiences and accomplishments during the years. The representatives of the Swedish Research Council (VR), Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), Statistics Sweden (SCB) and the Swedish National Data Service (SND) shared their views on the challenges and possibilities in the past and ahead. Among the keynote speakers was Olivia Wigzell, Director General of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.
To find out more about SIMSAM please visit www.simsam.nu
Best Poster Award to Jiaojiao Zheng
We want to congratulate our doctoral student Jiaojiao on winning the best poster prize of 10,000 SEK in the form of a travel grant at the Department Day 8th of May 2018. It is a proud tradition of our doctoral students to win this prize, and this is the third year in a row that the award goes to the research groups UGIS and SCS.
Dissertation John Maret-Ouda
Congratulations to John Maret-Ouda on his brilliant defence of his thesis Clinical and oncopreventive outcomes of antireflux surgery on Friday 6th of April. Professor Giovanni Zaninotto from Imperial College London acted as opponent. John will continue his research as affiliated to the group.
Welcome to our new statistician
Giola Santoni has been employed as a statistician for the group. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, USA and a certificate in Applied Statistics from the same university. She obtained a second PhD in Epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden with focus on trajectories of health in older adults.
Giola Santoni
StatisticianPublication in Gut
We are pleased to have got an article accepted for publication in Gut with the title ”Eradication treatment and the risk of gastric adenocarcinoma in a Western population”. The authors are Eva Doorakkers , Jesper Lagergren, Lars Engstrand and Nele Brusselaers.
Half time seminar
Congratulations to Qiaoli Wang for a well conducted half-time seminar on the 15th of December 2017.
Half time seminar
Congratulations to Dag Holmberg for a well conducted half-time seminar on the 16th of November 2017.
The second Sino-Sweden Joint Workshop
In October, representatives of the Upper GI Surgery and Surgical Care Science research groups visited Nanjing Medical University and the university hospital in Huai'an in China. This is the region in China with the highest incidence of oesophageal cancer and at this well organised visit both the research undertaken at our universities and the different challenges we face were discussed. Our sincere hope is that we in the future will deepen our co-operation being able use our respective strengths and advantages to further the knowledge about this cancer disease. The visit was a part of a China-Sweden Network Grant we received in 2015, funded by the Swedish Research Council in Sweden and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in China.
Welcome Jiaojiao Zheng
Jiaojiao Zheng has joined the group and will have Jesper as main supervisor. Her proposed PhD thesis will focus on the role of diabetes in the aetiology and prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma and admission seminar is planned to 4th of October. Warmly welcome Jiaojiao!
Half time seminar
Congratulations to Sheraz Markar for a well conducted half-time seminar 1st of September 2017.
Publication in JAMA
We are pleased to have got an article accepted for publication in JAMA with the title ”Association between laparoscopic antireflux surgery and recurrence of gastroesophageal reflux ”. The authors are John Maret-Ouda, Karl Wahlin, Hashem El-Serag and Jesper Lagergren.
Publication in Gastroenterology
We are pleased to have got an article accepted for publication in Gastroenterology with the title ”The Epidemiology of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma”. The authors are Helen G Coleman, Shao-Hua Xie and Jesper Lagergren.
UEG Research Prize 2017
Jesper Lagergren has been awarded the UEG Research Prize 2017 (United European Gastroenterology) of € 100.000 for his crucial impact on clinical practice and management of oesophageal cancer.
The prize will be formally awarded during the first part of the Opening Session of the 25th UEG Week in Barcelona 2017 on Monday, October 30, 2017, 08:00-10:00.
Publication in the Lancet
We are pleased to have got an article accepted for publication in the Lancet with the title ”Seminar: Oesophageal cancer”. The authors are Jesper Lagergren, Elizabeth Smyth, David Cunningham and Pernilla Lagergren.
With this publication the research group now have published in all six of general medicine's leading journals (N Engl J Med, Lancet, JAMA, BMJ och Ann Intern Med and JAMA Intern Med).
End of Term spring 2017
Together with the Surgical Care Science research group we had a nice afternoon at Piperska Muren. We listened Daniel Wadskog from the Bibliometrics group at the University Library talking about bibliometrics at KI. Shaohua Xie told us about the work within the groups about doctoral student activities, Anna Schandl about the future directions in cancer survivorship research. Jesper Lagergren told us about all our own new cohorts available for research and Pernilla Lagergren about patients’ involvement in research. Afterwards we went to Rålambshovsparken for an afterwork game of kubb!
Best Poster Award to Qiaoli Wang
We want to congratulate our doctoral student Qiaoli on winning the best poster prize of 20,000 SEK in the form of a travel grant at the Department Day 8th of May 2017.
New publication in Journal of the National Cancer Institute
We are pleased to have got an article accepted for publication in Journal of the National Cancer Institute with the title “Smoking Cessation and Risk of Esophageal Cancer by Histological Type: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis". The authors are Qiaoli Wang, Shaohua Xie, Li Wentao and Jesper Lagergren.
Dissertation
We would like to congratulate Emma Sverdén from the group who successfully defended her thesis "Complicated peptic ulcer disease - prevention and treatment" on April 7, 2017. Main Supervisor was Jesper Lagergren and co-supervisors Yunxia Lu and Anders Sondén.
New publication in Annals of Surgery
We are pleased to have got an article accepted for publication in Annals of Surgery with the title “Surgeon age in relation to prognosis after esophageal cancer resection.” The authors are Sheraz Markar, Hugh Mackenzie, Pernilla Lagergren and Jesper Lagergren.
Half time seminar
Congratulations to Eva Doorakkers for a well conducted half-time seminar on the 22nd of March 2017.
New PhD student
Manar Yanes has been recruited as a PhD student to the group with Jesper as main supervisor. His PhD thesis will focus on consequences of anti-reflux surgery and the data for the remaining studies will mainly be derived from the Nordic Anti-reflux Surgery Cohort (NordASCo). Admission seminar is planned to 26th of April. Warmly welcome Manar!
Dissertation
We would like to congratulate Carl Kilander from the group who successfully defended his thesis "Aspects of biliary tract cancer : incidence and reproductive risk factors" on January 27, 2017. Main Supervisor was Omid Sadr-Azodi and co-supervisor Jesper Lagergren.
Recruitment of an Assistant Professor
Shaohua Xie has been selected for the position as Assistant Professor ('Forskarassistent') with a focus on cancer epidemiology in UGIS. Shaohua was ranked number one among the applicants by external review and we wish to warmly welcome him to his new position.
Shaohua Xie
Principal ResearcherNew PhD student within the Clinical Scientist Training Programme
Eivind Gottlieb Vedi received funding from the Clinical Scientist Training Programme (CSTP) at KI, which supports salaries of selected PhD candidates who start their PhD studies during their medical studies. The PhD project is entitled “Improved surgical treatment of oesophageal cancer” and will be based on a new and comprehensive nationwide Swedish data collection from medical records and registries. Warmly welcome Eivind!wi