Since healthcare resources are limited, they need to be used wisely. Niklas Zethraeus wants to contribute to better decision-making and greater benefits for patients. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year’s installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 8 October.
Text: Karin Tideström, for KI’s installation ceremony booklet 2026
Niklas Zethraeus conducts research in health economics, a field that uses economic methods to examine how society’s limited resources can be used to improve people’s health.
Photo: Erik Flyg
By analysing costs, health gains and quality of life, he examines the effects of different treatments to see if there is a reasonable relationship between costs and benefits.
“The aim is to give decision-makers better information to help them prioritise healthcare, so that society’s limited resources can be used wisely,” he says.
His research is based on clinical studies and registry data, allowing for detailed statistical analyses of costs and outcomes, including from a societal perspective.
One result of his research is a deeper understanding of the cost-effectiveness of treatments for osteoporosis, menopausal conditions, gallstone disease and low back pain. It has also contributed to methodological development that makes health-economic analyses more reliable.
About Niklas Zethraeus
Professor of Health Economics at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics as of 11 June 2026
Niklas Zethraeus was born in Oxelösund in 1968. He studied Business and Economics at Linköping University, and earned a PhD in economics with a focus on health economics from the Stockholm School of Economics in 1998. He was made docent at Karolinska Institutet in 2012 and is currently director of the multidisciplinary Master’s programme in health economics, policy and management.
