Unit of Epidemiology

The general objective of our research is to improve the understanding of the influence of environmental and lifestyle factors on the risk of disease, particularly cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Part of the Institute of Environmental Medicine

Research groups

Ageing and Health
Photo: Anna Persson
Karin Modig's research group

Ageing and Health

We study how longevity and health change together and in parallel, as well as the overall disease panorama of the ageing population. Our overall goal is to increase knowledge of the ageing process, the evolution of life expectancy in relation to total life expectancy and potential consequences for society. It will ultimately help to inform and prepare policymakers to face the fifth epidemiological transition currently taking place.

Diabetes epidemiology
Photo: Anna Persson
Sofia Carlsson's research group

Diabetes epidemiology

We research the prevalence, etiology, and outcomes of various types of diabetes. Less common types of diabetes, like adult LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes), are of special interest to us. We have been conducting the ESTRID study for a number of years, but we also incorporate data from studies conducted internationally and perform register-based investigations. We place a high value on method development and work hard to conduct research that meets the highest international standards.

Staff and contact

Head of Unit

Contact persons

All members of the group

Research area

In our strive to advance knowledge of disease patterns and causation we put strong emphasis on the development and application of epidemiological methods. We provide training and research on methodological issues as well as applications of the methods through epidemiological research covering a wide range of health problems. Important research are described below.

Non-ionizing radiation

A longstanding major research area of ours is non-ionizing radiation in relation to cancer and other chronic diseases. While the focus originally was on magnetic fields generated in connection with generation, distribution, and use of electricity, the research is now mainly focused on electromagnetic fields that are used for mobile communication.

Aging

A research program related to the aging population has recently been started. The overarching question is the health of the increasing number of old people in the society. Their health will be of major importance for the impact that the aging population will have on society in terms of retirement age, required resources for health care and supply of work force.

Diabetes

Diabetes may be the worlds fastest growing disease. To prevent a further rise it is important to identify common, modifiable risk factors in the population. Our work primarily aims at identifying risk factors for autoimmune diabetes, an area that is still largely unknown.

Physical activity

Physical activity and effects on health and premature death is another area of continuous interest. The key question is how to separate effects of physical activity from effects of other life style factors that are associated with physical activity including obesity and from genetic factors that simultaneously could affect both the level of physical activity and health.

Brain tumors

Brain tumors accounts for about 2.5 percent of all tumors in Sweden, but is the second most common tumor in children. Little is known about the etiology, and studies of brain tumors are challenging, primarily because of poor prognosis and the effect of the disease on memory. Our research aims at identifying environmental and genetic risk factors for brain tumors using different study designs.

Projects