Cecilia Magnusson

Cecilia Magnusson

Professor/Senior Physician
Visiting address: Solnavägen 1 E, 11365 Stockholm
Postal address: K9 Global folkhälsa, K9 GPH Magnusson, 171 77 Stockholm
Part of:

About me

  • Research group leader for Prevention, Intervention and Mechanisms in Public
    Health (PRIME Health) at the Department of Global Public Health and senior consultant at the Centre for Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Stockholm County Council.

Research

  • I work on the development and distribution of population level health, with special emphasis on analyses of context specific implications for disease
    aetiology, prevention and health system intervention. 

Selected publications

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • White or black: Perinatal risks related to snuff use in pregnancy
    KI Research Foundation Grants 2024-2025
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025
  • Adapting to temperature extremes in pregnant women and infants: past trends and future scenarios (PRoMEThEUS)
    Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2027
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025
    Research idea and purposeAutism spectrum disorder (from now on autism) with intellectual disability (ID) is a severe and long-lasting disorder. Repeated systematic reviews show that migrant children have an increased risk of it, but the use of available care is lower in the group. Based on this we have two, separate but interlinked, general research ideas. The first is to elucidate the complex reasons why children of migrants have an increased risk of autism with ID and go from evidence to action to prevent it.The second is to co-design, evaluate and implement interventions to promote a better understanding of the disorder in high-risk migrant groups to decrease stigma and increase the use of available evidence-based care.The focus of the planning grant is to start together with the most affected population, the Somali population. Estimates from Sweden show that children with a Somali descent have about a four times higher prevalence as compared with non-Somali children, and this is in line with international studies. The purpose of this planning grant is to, together with parents of children with autism and ID and trusted Somali community leaders and health care staff, co-create a roadmap for research on the general research ideas.Work plan, methods and project realisationWe have a broad network of stakeholder contacts in Järva outside Stockholm and there we will adopt a community-based participatory research approach. Together with three Somali speaking research assistants we will do focus group interviews with Somali parents of children who have autism with ID and locally trusted community leaders throughout the summer 2025. The results of the focus group interviews will be published in a report in plain and accessible language that will be translated to Somali. The report will be the base for a workshop followed by activities to co-create a viable way forward.Societal relevance and utilisationAutism with ID is a highly disabling disorder with large human and economic costs. Children of Somali descent in high-income countries have a severely increased prevalence and the parents wonder why their children are so disproportionally affected. Research of causes, and interventions to make affected children thrive must include and enlist the help of those affected not to overlook risk factors and to increase the likelihood that the research findings can be applied in real life.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2027
    Research problem and specific questionsNon-optimal or extreme temperatures negatively affect public health and well-being. Their detrimental impacts are unevenly distributed, with pregnant women and infants bearing a disproportionate burden. Moreover, both the occurrence of temperature extremes, notably heatwaves, and their impacts are projected to increase under future climate change.Taking Sweden as a case-in-point, this project aims:to study the vulnerability to non-optimal and extreme temperatures in pregnant women and infants in Sweden
    to study the role of adaptation to non-optimal and extreme temperatures on maternal and infant health
    to develop scenarios of maternal and infant related health outcomes from plausible future extreme temperatures in Sweden accounting for socio-political dimensions of adaptation processes.Data and methodAccessing novel data resources from Sweden (DOHaD), we will quantify the excess risk of maternal and infant related health outcomes attributed to non-optimal and extreme temperatures. We will include an analysis of historical trends and drivers of the adaptation comparing Sweden with England and Italy-Lombardy Region, a temperate oceanic and a Mediterranean climate country. Leveraging available climate projections, we will also develop scenarios of maternal and infant related health outcomes of plausible future temperature extremes using storylines.Societal relevance and utilisationThis effort is timely: anthropogenically-driven global warming has led to an increased frequency, duration and intensity of heatwaves, a trend that is foreseen to continue in the coming decades. Concurrently, cold spells in several mid-latitude regions continue to be the norm, in part due to enhanced temperature variability. This points to the urgency of reducing the impacts on the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and infants, by leveraging early-warning systems, and developing new recommendations and long-term adaptation strategies.Plan for project realisationThe project will last 3 years (overall cost 4 999 613 SEK) and consists of 3 WPs. Costs cover salaries (3 675 334 SEK), and communication, travel and overhead (1 324 279 SEK). Raffetti with expertise in public health and epidemiology will lead the project in collaboration with experts in medical, physical and critical social sciences.The project will be part of the Swedish Center for Impacts of Climate Extremes.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2027
    The use of smokeless nicotine products (SNP) is increasing fast among young people in high-income countries, especially among women. While the adverse perinatal effects of smoking in pregnancy are well established, and the marketing and sales of smoked tobacco products thus strictly regulated, less is known about such effects of SNP. Young women’s attitudes towards, and risk perception of, SNP use in pregnancy have never been surveyed in Sweden. We therefore propose a project to fill these knowledge gaps, taking a multidisciplinary approach. The work will rest on a recent register-based cohort study, involving all pregnancies in Sweden since 1999 (N=2.4 million) with data from health data registers. We will use “snus use”, as recorded at various points of gestation in the Medical Birth Register (MBR), as our main exposure and proxy for SNP use. In addition to perinatal outcomes (e.g., gestational diabetes and preterm birth) assessed from health registers, we will explore associations between snus use and foetal growth and growth velocity identified from ultrasounds measures. We will also validate the MBR data on snus using biomarkers analysed from maternal sera. Lastly, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with young women to improve the understanding of risk perceptions. We believe that the expected research findings are important to guide the development of interventions that can mitigate any negative public health consequences of the current surge in SNP use.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2023 - 30 November 2026
    The COVID-19 pandemic has raised significant concerns about the potential long-term effects on women and infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. This points to the urgency of developing balanced policy responses during COVID-19 epidemic phases and future pandemics.Taking Sweden and England as a case-in-point, this project aims to address the following questions: 1) What are the adverse health outcomes after the delivery associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy? 2) What are the adverse health outcomes associated with intrauterine exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection in infants? 3) How can preventive strategies mitigate the impacts on women and infant health of a potential future respiratory virus-related pandemic?Accessing novel data resources from Sweden and England, we will quantify the excess risk of 2-year post-delivery adverse health outcomes in women and offspring exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and compare with influenza (as a positive control). We will then develop future pandemic scenarios using ‘storylines’.This effort is timely: 1) to reduce the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy on women and infant health
    2) to support better-informed prevention strategies (e.g. targeted vaccination campaigns, early monitoring) for high-risk individuals
    3) to reduce the impacts of future pandemics on the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and offspring (e.g. new recommendations and long-term contingency plans).
  • Swedish Research Council for Environment Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning
    1 December 2023 - 30 November 2027
    Temporally compound hydroclimate extremes, such as drought-to-flood and heatwave-drought transitions, are consecutive and/or partially overlapping events. Anthropogenic climate change exacerbates their frequency and intensity, making them the norm in many regions. Lack of impact databases and the complex socio-physical feedbacks underlying the genesis of such extremes pose a formidable challenge to sustainable transformation.This project aims to enhance understanding of temporally compound hydroclimate extremes and identify adaptation actions that promote sustainable transformation. Specific aims include: 1) developing a multi-sectoral impact database of such extremes in Europe since 1940
    2) analyzing (un)sustainable transformation following extreme events through two case studies
    3) proposing a novel system dynamics modelling framework for a system view, and 4) developing scenarios to evaluate public health and societal impacts of future extremes under different development pathways.A thorough understanding of such extremes is crucial for developing a sustainable society, as their impact is likely to disproportionately affect vulnerable groups. In addition, societal responses after an extreme may exacerbate inequalities and contribute to the genesis of successive extremes. This makes the planned research highly timely.The project will engage with stakeholders and end-users to ensure their needs are met in achieving a fair and effective response to climate change.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    Research problem and specific questionsYoung LGBTQ+ people i.e. Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Queer or Questioning persons have high risks for mental health problems but the reasons are unclear. This project will, therefore, focus on mental health of young LGBTQ+ people aged 16-29 years and vulnerable subgroups. Our research questions are:  Have the mental health outcomes of young LGBTQ+ people changed over time (2006-2021)? How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the mental health of young LGBTQ people?How does the mental health of young LGBTQ+ people evolve as they transition into adulthood and what are the risk and protective factors?Why do bisexuals, transgender persons and persons with gender dysphoria have worse mental health than other LGBTQ+ subgroups i.e. gays and lesbians?What do young LGBTQ+ people think are the causes of mental ill-health among their peers and what support do they need? What works and is lacking in existing support to young LGBTQ+ people within first line health services and in society?Data and methodThe project has two parts. Part 1 is quantitative and based on the Stockholm Public Health Cohort (SPHC), a longitudinal (2002-2021) and population-based cohort (N≈140,000) with linked self-reported and registry data. The SPHC includes information on LGBTQ+ status and health, lifestyle and social factors, making it a world-unique dataset to study mental health of young LGBTQ+ people. Part 2 is qualitative and based on focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with young LGBTQ+ people.Plan for project realisationRegion Stockholm´s Centre for epidemiology and community medicine will host the project and has funded the SPHC. We ask for funds to cover costs for salaries for the project staff, data management and research- and conference travel.RelevanceAbout 15% of young people 16-29 years in Sweden (N=211,000) are LGBTQ+ persons, and young LGBTQ+ people have poorer mental health than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. It is, therefore, of great societal interest to address mental health inequities in this population. Our studies will span a very broad spectrum of young LGBTQ+ people, including gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and queer persons and persons with gender dysphoria, making up a substantial share of young people in Sweden. The project will add new knowledge on the mental health of young LGBTQ+ people and help optimize the societal support and reduce inequality.
  • Sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people: how is the availability, content and quality of care affected by the digitization of healthcare during the covid-19 pandemic?
    Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2021 - 30 November 2024
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
    1 June 2019 - 30 April 2024
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2021
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2021
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2018 - 31 December 2020
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2018 - 31 December 2020
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 October 2017 - 30 September 2020
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2017 - 31 December 2020
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2016 - 31 December 2018
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2016 - 31 December 2018
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2013 - 31 December 2016
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2013 - 31 December 2015
  • Show more

Employments

  • Professor/Senior Physician, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2025-2025
  • Adjunct Professor, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2021-2025

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2007

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