Research on OCD and related disorders, precision psychiatry, psychiatric genetics, suicide prevention, stress and PTSD
In the latest issue of Medicinsk Vetenskap 2/2026, John Wallert is interviewed about how our prediction models and AI-based tools can contribute to more accurate risk assessments in healthcare. The article highlights how our ongoing research based on large-scale registry data can support clinicians in identifying patients at increased risk, thereby creating better opportunities for early, equitable and preventive interventions.
For the third time, the course Artificial Intelligence in Mental Healthcare is being offered, once again bringing together participants from all over the world to explore one of the most timely and relevant areas in healthcare.
The course takes as its starting point the question of who tomorrow’s clinician will be: human, machine or a combination of both? With a focus on clinical psychology and psychiatry, the course explores how artificial intelligence can be understood, developed and used to support care tailored to each individual patient.
Participants will engage with theory, current research and real-world examples in areas such as chatbots, suicide prediction and applied machine learning. Ethical issues play a central role, as do practical workshops where participants can deepen their understanding of methods and applications. We look forward to welcoming a new group of participants to this year’s course!
Today we gathered for a full-day kick-off for CAPRI Track 3. CAPRI (Centre for Applied Psychiatric Research and Innovation) is a KI research centre led by Christian Rück focusing on patients with severe psychiatric conditions in high-intensity care settings, aiming to co-create, test, and implement person-centred interventions together with patients, clinicians, and other partners.
During the day we focused on aligning priorities and turning ideas into concrete next steps—ranging from validating and improving risk prediction/decision support tools, to exploring multi-modal AI (e.g., face/voice) as a potential future clinical support, and mapping what we should measure in inpatient settings so that data collection becomes meaningful and actionable. Throughout the day, our track lead John Wallert guided the discussions and also presented the CARE-FORCE trial. Great conversations followed on how cross-disciplinary collaboration can maximise impact. Thanks to everyone who contributed—lots of energy, sharp ideas, and great inspiration!
Today our research group meeting had the honor of welcoming Roland Paulsen as a guest speaker. He gave an interesting talk on the sociology of risk, which was attended and enjoyed by representatives from numerous research groups. If you would like to know more about Roland’s work, you can find his website here.
Thank you, Roland, for sharing the important work that you are doing!
The Rück Research Group is staying productive: this time it’s our very own Sim Jamil whose first-authored article on intense prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD was published in BMC Psychiatry!
Together with her co-authors, Christian Rück and Maria Bragesjö, Sim found such therapy to be a time-efficient alternative to weekly care. We look forward to seeing her continued work on this topic!
You can read the article, titled Feasibility of intensive prolonged exposure for PTSD: a pragmatic pilot study in Swedish public outpatient psychiatry, in full here! 🥳
We are happy to announce that yet another article is coming out of the Rück Research Group! This time, Christian Rück and colleagues are co-authors on a paper titled “Genome-wide association study of major anxiety disorders in 122,341 European-ancestry cases identifies 58 loci and highlights GABAergic signaling”.
In this large genome-wide study, the researchers identified 58 independent genome-wide significant risk variants for major anxiety disorders and found substantial genetic correlation between major anxiety disorders and depression, neuroticism and other internalizing phenotypes. The findings also highlight GABAergic signaling as a potential mechanism, advancing our understanding of the genetic basis of major anxiety disorders.
Congratulations to everyone involved! 🎉
Below are two recent news items from the past weeks involving the research group leader and Professor of Psychiatry, Christian Rück.
A couple weeks ago, Christian Rück took part in a wide-ranging discussion on mental health on the talk show Skavlan & Sverige, hosted by Fredrik Skavlan. The panel also included Pernilla Wahlgren, Gabor Maté, Ebba Witt-Brattström, Nisse Hallberg, Elaine Eksvärd, and Ludmila Engquist. Link: Episode Skavlan
In a second news item, Christian Rück appeared as an expert in a TV4 report on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The report was based on Mikaela Eklund’s personal experience of living with OCD. Christian Rück explained how the disorder can manifest and stressed that effective treatments are available – primarily cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and medication. Link: Tv4
Last week, the entire CAPRI team gathered for a conference day meant to kick off the new research center. We discussed organization of the operations, how to proceed with the various tracks, and the state of psychiatric research in general. Jakob Forssmed, the Swedish Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health, joined the discussions in the afternoon, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing psychiatric care and its availability. Along with other guest speakers and delicious meals at Hantverket, this brought interesting discussions, effective team building, and great inspiration!
We are happy to welcome Paula Wurth, who joined us last month as a PhD student in the Rücklab statistical modeling team! She holds a M.Sc. in Psychology from Stockholm University. Her research explores the use of coercive measures in involuntary psychiatric in-patient care (restraint, seclusion, forced medication). The project seeks to understand who is most at risk of being subjected to these measures and what their long-term consequences may be. Her main supervisor is Fredrik Johansson. Co-supervisors are John Wallert, Christian Rück and Anna-Clara Hollander (Department of Global Public Health).
We warmly welcome her! 👏
Today our PhD’s Martin Turesson and Leoni Grossmann together with research assistant Erik Melin participated in AI-dagen at Karolinska Institutet, presenting two projects on AI and suicide prevention after involuntary psychiatric care. One presentation highlighted findings from our nationwide study on suicide after involuntary care, now published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe
We also presented our work on a new AI-based risk calculator to support discharge decisions after involuntary psychiatric care—using nationwide data to provide transparent, individual risk estimates for key adverse outcomes.
Rücklab - Psychiatry research at Karolinska Institutet 