Ernesto Sparrelid

Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology as of 3 October 2025. Primary position: Senior physician and head of department at Karolinska University Hospital.

Cancers of the liver, bile ducts and pancreas are among the most difficult cancers to treat. Prognoses are often poor and the risk of serious complications is high. Ernesto Sparrelid would like to see more patients being offered curative surgery with fewer complications. Using patient-oriented clinical studies, his research group is developing methods that make it easier to judge which patients can receive surgery and how it can be performed safely. A key aspect of his research is preventing postoperative liver failure by evaluating liver function and stimulating liver growth prior to major surgery. Their results have already been put to practical use and have contributed to safer treatments and greater access to curative surgery.

2021 - SSMF Major Grant
2021 - Associate Professor of Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
2018 - Bengt Ihre Research Fellowship
2018 - CIMED Investigator grant for clinicians
2018 - Postdoctoral visit, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2018 - Senior Consultant in Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden
2017 - PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
2012 - Specialist in Surgery, National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden
2006 - Medical License, National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden
2005 - MD, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden