About SFO-V

In short

Staffan Josephsson has been a professor of occupational therapy at Karolinska Institutet (KI) since 2011. He received his undergraduate education in occupational therapy at the then Stockholm School of Health Sciences and the education in pedagogy and theater studies is from Stockholm University. Staffan's dissertation on "Everyday activities as meeting places for dementia" he defended at Karolinska Institutet in 1994.

Research

The starting point in Staffan's work is the research group Activity and participation when aging (APEL), which focuses on how participation is established together with older people in different circumstances and with different conditions.

Another node in Staffan's work is the group Health in Context at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, with which he has a long-term collaboration on issues concerning participation in everyday life.

In his role as a teacher, he has the ambition to challenge elitist pedagogy and work for relevant forms of teaching that include student participation and creativity. Staffan has learned a lot from working with European colleagues in The European Master in Occupational Therapy and from his Chilean colleagues at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile.

In short

Lars E. Eriksson has a background as a registered nurse, master of science in chemistry and doctor of medicine in nursing and is an associate professor in care sciences and senior lecturer in nursing at Karolinska Institutet where he is division and research group lead at the Division of Innovative Care Research at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics. Lars has a clinical affiliation to the Medical Unit Infectious Diseases at Karolinska University Hospital and he also has a part-time position as a professor at the School of Health Sciences at the City, University of London, United Kingdom.

Research

Lars' scientific profile has developed towards the branch of healthcare science that is established as biobehavioural or translational healthcare science. Early in his research career, he combined scientific work in nursing and biomedicine, mainly in HIV and sexual health. After the dissertation, his research line has expanded to also include studies on populations with other long-lasting or chronic conditions. He is PI of studies that explore quality of life, stigma and illness perception in people living with HIV. In addition, he is the PI of a translational research project on early signs and symptoms and biomarkers as predictors of lung cancer and is the PI for the Swedish part of an EU-funded intervention project, Magnet4Europe, which aims to improve mental health and well-being for healthcare staff in acute care hospitals.

In short

Ing-Mari Dohrn is a licensed physiotherapist / physiotherapist and doctor of medicine in physiotherapy at KI. She has been an SFO-V Fellow and postdoctoral fellow at the Aging Research Center, KI, and at the University of Queensland. Ing-Mari conducts research at the Department of Neurobiology, Caring Sciences and Society with a focus on physical activity and sedentary life in the elderly, as well as measurement methods for physical activity.

Research

In her research, Ing-Mari has studied the relationship between health and physical activity or sedentary with the help of movement meters, so-called accelerometers, in two large Swedish observational studies, Attitude, Behavior and Change study (ABC) and Swedish National study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K). She has also evaluated physical activity and health-related quality of life in the elderly who have participated in challenging balance training. Through her research, Ing-Mari wants to contribute to increased knowledge about the interplay between biological and behavioral factors. Knowledge that can form the basis for health-promoting recommendations on physical activity for both patients and the general public.

In short

I am Professor of Experimental Neurogeriatics and study cellular mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease. I am head of the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS). I was the director of doctoral studies at NVS between 2012-2017. During the 2015-2018, I was faculty representative on the Board of Doctoral Education (FUS) and during 2019 faculty representative on the Faculty Board. These were very interesting, stimulating and important assignments. To pursue issues that I am passionate about and to be a part of developing KI is both interesting and fun. This is something that I bring with me when I now take over as head of one of KI's largest departments with large assignments in research and education.

Research description

My research focuses on mitochondrial function in Alzheimer's disease with the long-term goal of identifying new drug candidates. Of particular interest is the interaction between the endoplasmic network (ER) and the mitochondria. Until recently, I was the coordinator of an EU project (JPND / VR) where a consortium of five partners aimed to identify common and distinct disease mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease with a focus on regulation of mitochondrial function and cellular bioenergtics. As part of project, we have identified a molecule that positively affects mitochondrial function and which we are now developing further.

In short

Ann Langius-Eklöf is a registered nurse and professor of nursing at the Department of Nursing, NVS, Karolinska Institutet (KI). Involved in both education and research, active in teaching and examining courses, and ensuring that educational assignments are closely linked to the subject and research. Leads a strong research group with significant external funding and has held several academic leadership positions.

Research description

Her research includes methodological and clinical studies on patient-reported data such as quality of life, well-being, symptoms, and satisfaction with care in various medical conditions. A key concept is the individual’s ability to handle stressful situations, known as the sense of coherence (SOC). Several studies evaluate the effectiveness and experience of an interactive app for real-time symptom reporting and self-care advice among patients with various cancer diagnoses and elderly patients receiving home care or living in nursing homes. The app is developed in collaboration with the LIME department at KI. The patients’ perspectives and preferences are naturally integrated into direct care, combined with professional knowledge. Recently, data collection has been completed in two clinical RCT studies, and two more RCT studies in a primary care context have started.

In short

Anna-Karin Welmer is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at KI. She earned her PhD in Physiotherapy at KI and subsequently completed postdoctoral training at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg and at the Aging Research Center, KI. Currently, Anna-Karin chair the Course and Program Committee for doctoral education at KI and is the course director for the courses “Dementia, from cell to society” and “Master course in dementia care for physiotherapists and occupational therapists”.

Research description

Anna-Karin leads the research group Aging and Health, where they study the health of older adults with a particular focus on physical function, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and injurious falls. Their research combines clinical studies (intervention studies, qualitative studies, and implementation research) with large population-based studies. Their goals are to increase knowledge about:

• Causes and consequences of physical disability, physical inactivity, and injurious falls in older adults
• The effect of physical exercise interventions on physical function and health in older adults
• Implementation of evidence-based methods in clinical practice