Viktor H. Ahlqvist

Viktor H. Ahlqvist

Postdoctoral Researcher
Visiting address: Nobels väg 13, 17177 Solna
Postal address: C6 Institutet för miljömedicin, C6 Integrativ epidemiologi Fang, 171 77 Stockholm
Part of:

Research

  • At Karolinska Institutet, I lead research on the safety of medications in pregnancy, aiming to understand how they affect mothers, pregnancies, and children’s health. Examples include one of the world’s largest studies on paracetamol use in pregnancy, showing that it does not increase children’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. We have also spearheaded an international effort to assess the safety of antiseizure medications. This work is made possible by Sweden’s comprehensive national health registers and advanced methods in causal inference and computational statistics.

    At Aarhus University, my work focuses on statistical genetics and precision psychiatry. In particular, I study why people with neuropsychiatric conditions such as ADHD and autism face a higher risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and Parkinson’s disease, later in life.

    My background is in epidemiology, statistics, and causal inference. Beyond my core research, I also contribute to studies on preschool health, cardiovascular disease, and the development of innovative research methods across disciplines.

Teaching

    • Teacher in Biostatistics I and Biostatistics II, Master's Programme in Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet.
    • Teacher in Statistics, General Practitioner Programme, Academic Primary Care Center - Region Stockholm.
    • Frequent guest lecturer in causal inference and statistics.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • DRUG-SAFE
    Swedish Society for Medical Research
    1 January 2026 - 1 January 2029
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2025 - 31 December 2029
    Children with autism are transitioning into adulthood. Emerging evidence suggests an increased risk of early-onset dementia among individuals with autism and a higher risk of any dementia among their family members. However, existing studies have primarily treated autism and dementia as binary variables, overlooking the fact that autism represents a continuum of symptoms, while dementia likely involves a prolonged neurodegenerative process leading to its onset.The overarching aim of this project is to utilize pre-existing cohorts with individual-level data on genotyping and various neurodegeneration markers to examine the relationship between genetic liability for autism and neurodegeneration. We will compare: 1) the risk of cognitive decline and its progression to dementia
    2) measures of brain aging
    and 3) the burden of known risk factors and antecedent conditions for dementia between individuals with high versus low genetic liability for autism. Additionally, we will conduct -omics analyses to investigate biological pathways for the link between autism and dementia.The large sample size, unique data access, cutting-edge analytical approaches, cross-country comparisons, and an experienced and dedicated research team underscore the scientific novelty and significance of this project. The findings from this research will have important implications for developing targeted interventions aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of dementia in the autistic population.

Employments

  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-2027

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2024
  • Degree Of Master Of Medical Science 120 Credits, Karolinska Institutet, 2019

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