I am affiliated with the Perinatal, Obstetric, and Pediatric Epidemiology (POPE) research group within the Section of Epidemiology at the University of Copenhagen.

My primary research focuses on perinatal and pediatric epidemiology and the development of epidemiological methods. I'm particularly interested in understanding how conditions during pregnancy and early life impact children's health outcomes.

Current Projects:

SCOPE (Scandinavian Studies of COVID-19 in Pregnancy) Projects I & II

The SCOPE projects, funded by Nordforsk, examine the impact of COVID-19 infection and vaccination during pregnancy on both pregnant women and their newborns, focusing on:

• • Assessing COVID-19 infection risks among pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women of reproductive age, including the risk of severe disease and hospitalization.
  • Investigating potential COVID-19-related pregnancy complications, including risks of fetal loss.
  • Examining impacts of maternal COVID-19 infection and vaccination on fetal and child health, considering both short-term and long-term outcomes.

Social Inequalities in Child Health

This project focuses on understanding the drivers of health inequalities in childhood and their long-term impact. We address major health conditions in early life, childhood, and young adulthood, initially focusing on child mortality and mental health disorders. Our aim is to quantify the impact of policy interventions on reducing health disparities and to identify optimal timing and approaches for intervention. This research is part of a larger international initiative led by Professor David Taylor-Robinson at Liverpool University, designed to guide policy decisions internationally.

PREGDK Project at Statistics Denmark

As project leader for the PREGDK project, I am developing a comprehensive database for research comprising all registered pregnancies in Denmark from 1980 onwards, using national registers. This work involves applying both expert-provided and data-driven criteria to assign data points to specific pregnancies, assessing data validity, and comparing findings with other birth and pregnancy datasets. The database comprises both miscarriages, stillbirths, live births, molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies, terminations of pregnancy and other pregnancy outcomes.

Other Key Responsibilities:

I chair the Department of Public Health's data infrastructure, the Public Health Database, supporting over 180 researchers. In this role, I oversee a secretariat of 4–5 staff members.

Teaching

• Course in Perinatal and Early Life Epidemiology at the MSc programme in Public Health (and PhD)
• Course in Introduction to Epidemiology at the BSc programme in Public Health Science, University of Copenhagen
• Course in Methodology (Epidemiology) at the MSc programme in Medicine, University of Copenhagen
• Course in Social Epidemiology and Public Health at the BSc programme in Public Health Science, University of Copenhagen

 Supervision

• Master's theses in the MSc degree programme in Public Health Science and MSc degree programme in Medicine (UCPH)
• Bachelor's theses in the BSc degree programme in Public Health Science and BSc degree programme in Medicine (UCPH) 
• 1st year’s Project in Social Epidemiology and Public Health, Disease prevention and Health Promotion, and Sociology at the BSc programme in Public Health Science (UCPH)
• Internships in the MSc and BSc degree programme in Public Health Science (UCPH)

Current affiliations

Assistant Professor

Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen

October 2021 – present (Staff Scientist + Assistant Professor)

Conducting research on the health and well-being of children and pregnant women within a perinatal and child epidemiological framework.

Projects: SCOPE, Social Inequalities in Child Health (see short presentation)

Other Key Responsibilities: Chairing the Department of Public Health's data infrastructure, the Public Health Database, supporting over 180 researchers. In this role, I oversee a secretariat of 4–5 staff members.

Affiliated Researcher

Statistics Denmark

October 2020 – Current

Project: PREGDK (see short presentation)

Other professional experiences

Postdoc

Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen

September 2017 – October 2021 (part time since August 2018)

Investigating the health of people in the Nordic countries in a life course perspective.

Projects:

1) Contingent life courses (C-LIFE): Tracing Health and Welfare in the Nordic Countries.

2) Welfare state life courses: Social inequalities in the co-evolution of employment, health and critical life events (WELLIFE).

3) Completion of the Danish contribution to The European Perinatal Health Report 2015 (www.europeristat.com), a collection of valid and reliable indicators that can be used for monitoring and evaluating perinatal health in the EU.

Other key responsibilities:

I held the responsibility of managing a substantial registry database (DanChase) belonging to our research group. This encompassed various tasks, including database maintenance, ensuring regular updates, and introducing new researchers to the legal protocols and guidelines governing data usage.

Postdoc

Department of Pediatrics, Kolding Hospital

December 2018 – October 2022 (part time)

EUROlinkCAT Project at Kolding Hospital

Funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 program, EUROlinkCAT uses the EUROCAT infrastructure (population-based registries for surveillance of congenital anomalies) to support 21 EUROCAT registries in 13 European countries to link their congenital anomaly data to mortality, hospital discharge, prescription and educational databases. I am responsible for establishing the Danish linked database and conduct analyses across all participating registries in dedicated work packages focusing on health outcomes for children with congenital anomalies through their first 10 years of life. More about EUROlinkCAT can be found here.

Subject consultant

Evidence, Education & Emergency Services, Danish Health Authority

April 2018 – December 2019 (part time)

As a part-time consultant, I led the epidemiological aspect of a health technology assessment (HTA) on expanding the HPV vaccination programme to include boys in Denmark. Responsibilities included: describing HPV epidemiology, reviewing vaccine effectiveness and safety studies, conducting risk assessments, grading evidence quality, and writing report chapters.

Through these responsibilities, I played an integral role in providing evidence-based insights to inform policy decisions regarding the potential expansion of HPV vaccination to boys in Denmark.

PhD fellow

Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen

January 2014 – September 2017 (including maternity leave)

Investigating the impact of the father’s age at conception on the viability and health of the offspring in population-based register studies using Danish nation-wide register data. 

Projects:
1) Advanced paternal age and risk of under-five mortality
2) Advanced paternal age and the risk of congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system in offspring

3) Advanced paternal age and childhood cancer rate
4) Advanced paternal age and stillbirth rate

5) Investigation of the dependency structure (cluster structure) among full siblings and half siblings in the Danish register information

Other key responsibilities:

I held the responsibility of managing a substantial registry database (DanChase) belonging to our research group. This encompassed various tasks, including database maintenance, ensuring regular updates, and introducing new researchers to the legal protocols and guidelines governing data usage.

Visiting Researcher

The Danish Cancer Society Research Center

August 2015 - November 2015

Investigating the association between the father's age at conception and the rate of childhood cancer in offspring in a population-based register study using Danish nation-wide register data.

Research Assistant

Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen

April 2013 - December 2013 (research assistant)

2012-April 2013 (student assistant)

Completion of the Danish contribution to The European Perinatal Health Report 2010 incl. data analysis of reproductive and perinatal conditions (www.europeristat.com)

Student Assistant

Section of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen

2007-2012

Ad hoc work

Intern

DANIDA, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Spring 2009

Project: The Wired Mothers project.
Project aim: to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by improving contact (primarily by the use of mobile phones) between the pregnant women and health professionals at the local health clinics