Acting Vice-Chancellor of Karolinska Institutet
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EAR READERS, In this issue of Medical Science there are several articles on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) illustrating how medical research in the last decades has really pushed the boundaries of our knowledge and explored this new knowledge for improved treatment of MS patients. During this time, there has been a remarkable transition from treatment for symptom relief to the roll out of drugs that slow the course of disease. Novel technologies in combination with Sweden’s unique quality register has provided insights into the complex genetic contributions to this disease. The same quality register has been explored to reveal the role of the environment and lifestyle in disease development. This successful example, shows how medical research, in close collaboration with the health care sector, really bring benefit to patients and society at large. Karolinska Institutet works in close collaboration with the health care sector to address increasingly urgent global challenges to health and disease. We also seek strategic alliances with other internationally leading universities and companies, to further enhance our ability to carry out large-scale, ambitious and resource-intensive research. In the beginning of 2017, two individuals who have made outstanding contributions to Karolinska Institutet, medical research and the world passed away. The photographer Lennart Nilsson and the professor in global health Hans Rosling illustrated fundamental aspects of life itself and the world we live in. Lennart Nilsson used his cameras to explore the human body down to its cells. Hans Rosling used pedagogic tools in an unprecedented way to disseminate new knowledge and to question existing prejudices about the state of health in the world. I hope that many will follow in their footsteps. Research at Karolinska Institutet spans the entire medical field, from basic experimental research to patient-oriented and care sciences. This year’s edition of Medical Science, will give you a glimpse of some of the many exciting examples of research projects being conducted at our university in the interest of improving human health.
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Medical Science–2017
Medical Science is an annual English language edition of the Karolinska Institutet popular science magazine Medicinsk Vetenskap. Here you can read selected examples of current research at our university. Editor-in-chief Camilla Magnusson Acting Director of Communications Karolinska Institutet Editors Ola Danielsson Cecilia Odlind medicinskvetenskap@ki.se Art Direction Lisa Sigebrand, Content Innovation Contributors Anders Kjellberg, Annika Lund, Jenny Ryltenius, Karin Söderlund Leifler, Sara Nilsson, Mårten Göthlin, Maja Lundbäck, Christopher Hunt, Martin Stenmark, Mattias Ahlm, Fredrik Hedlund, Linda Forsell, Annika Af Klerker, Viktor Karlsson Cover: Getty images Print E-print Translation Språkservice Web ki.se Communications and Public Relations Office, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden ISSN 1104-3822 Follow us on Facebook! Facebook.com/ karolinskainstitutet
Photography: Gustav Mårtensson
Karin Dahlman-Wright: