The Infrastructure Board at Karolinska Institutet has decided to allocate funding to five projects under the call for proposals ‘New technologies and methods at the forefront’. A total of up to 16 MSEK will be allocated in 2027 to strengthen the research infrastructure and provide researchers with access to new technologies, methods and tools.
The successful applications have been assessed as meeting identified needs within research at KI and contributing to the development of shared resources and activities. The initiatives are expected to gradually strengthen the range of methods and technologies within KI’s research infrastructure in 2027.
Following a comprehensive assessment, the Infrastructure Committee has decided to fund five initiatives which, together, will broaden the range of methods available to researchers at KI in the coming years.
We asked the applicants behind the five funded proposals to describe how their proposals are expected to benefit researchers and strengthen the research environment.
CRISPR Functional Genomics: From correlation to causation: Large-scale CRISPR perturbation linked to cell and tissue profiling (MSEK 1.5)
Photo: Niklas Norberg Wirtén
“Optical pooled CRISPR screening is a recent breakthrough method that pairs massively parallel genetic changes with microscopic imaging, allowing researchers to directly link thousands of specific gene knockouts or activations to complex cell behaviour in a single experiment,” says Bernhard Schmierer , Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics .
” CRISPR Functional Genomics , a SciLifeLab national infrastructure and KI core facility, is implementing the method together with the SciLifeLab In Situ Sequencing unit and will make the method available to researchers at KI and beyond,” he adds.
Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry Core Facility (KI-SMMS): Completing the molecular map: Spatial metabolomics for KI (MSEK 4)
Photo: Stefan Zimmerman
“The new platform, mass spectrometry imaging (MSI)-based spatial metabolomics, complements KI-SMMS’s established bulk tissue analysis by LC-MS/MS. While bulk analysis of tissue homogenates averages the signal across every cell type in a sample, MSI keeps that cellular heterogeneity by mapping each molecule back onto the tissue’s structure. For KI researchers, this means that metabolic signatures identified by LC-MS/MS can now be linked to the anatomical niches where they arise,” says Craig Wheelock , Institute of Environmental Medicine .
“Potential applications include: 1) mechanistic discovery – pinpointing where metabolic changes happen within diseased tissue, 2) drug development- visualizing where a drug localises in a tissue and whether it engages its target, and 3) translational research – validating candidate biomarkers in patient tissue. The platform is expected to be up and running in early 2027 and will be open to all KI researchers through KI-SMMS”, he adds.
Biomedicum Flow Cytometry Core Facility: Spectral real-time imaging cell sorter (MSEK 4.22)
Photo: Johannes Frandsén
“The Biomedicum Flow Cytometry Core Facility receives funding for a cell sorter with real-time imaging combined with full spectral fluorescence detection, allowing high-speed cell sorting based on criteria such as cell morphology, sub-cellular localization and autofluorescence signature. This will increase sorting quality and allow researchers to isolate cell populations impossible to sort with conventional sorters,” says Maria Johansson , Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology .
3D-EM Core Facility: Integrated super-resolution fluorescence microscopy for correlative electron microscopy (MSEK 2)
Photo: Lars Berg
“With this funding, the 3D-EM Core Facility adds fluorescence microscopy with super-resolution precision directly inside its cryo-electron microscopy sample preparation instrument. KI researchers will be able to find and image specific structures inside frozen cells and tissues far more precisely and efficiently, bringing detailed 3D views of cellular processes within reach for more projects,” says Martin Hällberg , Department of Cell and Molecular Biology .
Advanced nanoparticle analysis: The link between biological discovery and clinical translation (MSEK 3.5)
Photo: Antje Zickler
“Nanoparticles, including extracellular vesicles (EVs) and Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs), represent the absolute forefront of modern drug delivery, and researchers need access to high-resolution analytical infrastructure, at Karolinska Institutet, for numerous active projects,” says André Görgens , Department of Laboratory Medicine .
Photo: Fahimeh Hekmatandish
“Researchers working with LNPs and EVs will benefit from rapid access to advanced nanoparticle characterisation. The new capability will be available immediately through the existing Pre-GMP Facility within the Karolinska ATMP Center and will subsequently form part of the broader Nano-Core infrastructure, alongside additional characterisation technologies,” says Lara Sweetapple , in the same department.
According to Lara Sweetapple and André Görgens, this will streamline workflows, reduce sample processing times and costs, and increase capacity for nanoparticle research and process development.
The applications have been assessed by members of the Infrastructure Board together with research group leaders from KI at SciLifeLab. The assessment has been based, amongst other things, on the strategic importance of the initiatives for research at KI and their potential to provide services at the forefront of technology and methodology.
