Academic interests
I am a professor of public health epidemiology with my main research interests in perinatal epidemiology. Most of my work revolves around how to create better data and knowledge about pregnancies and childbirths, and how to put this to use in improving health at the beginning of life and to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes. Much of my work involves collaborations with colleagues in low- and middle-income countries. We develop digital public health registries of pregnancies and births (eRegistries); undertake implementation research on how best to introduce and use such digital tools to strengthen public health systems; run randomized controlled trials of digital health interventions and other complex public health interventions to assess their effectiveness; and undertake registry-based studies in perinatal epidemiology.
My teaching is focused on equipping students with the skills they will need in design, methods and analytics to serve as epidemiologists in public health.
Courses taught
- FHE4100 – Clinical Epidemiology and Scientific Evidence in Health and Health Care
- FHE5010 – Complex Interventions and Implementation in Public Health
Background
I am a Medical Doctor (University of Bergen) with a PhD in obstetric epidemiology and a PhD in experimental neonatology (University of Oslo). My postdoc was in perinatology, followed by a Fulbright Fellowship as Visiting Professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Lecturer at Harvard Medical School. I have since served almost 20 years at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in various roles as epidemiologist; Department Director for the Dept. of Genes and Environment, the Dept. of International Public Health, and the Dept. of Global Health; Chief Scientist in Global Health; and Director of Research for the Division for Health Services. The last ten years at the NIPH, I held an adjunct position as Professor of Global Health at the National Center of Excellence "Center for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child health" (CISMAC) at the University of Bergen.
I joined the University of Oslo in 2023 and hold an adjunct position at the NIPH.