Zihan Dong

I am an epidemiology PhD candidate with experience in epidemiological research, Swedish national register data, cross-country research coordination, data management and analysis, evidence synthesis, and teaching activities at postgraduate level. My research focuses on the impact of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ADHD medication on the risk profile and prognosis of type 2 diabetes, as well as adverse outcomes arising from drug–drug interactions between ADHD and cardiometabolic medications. I am driven by a strong interest in translating epidemiological insights into actionable evidence to support population health improvement and inform data-driven decision-making.

My doctoral research focuses on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its pharmacological treatment in relation to cardiometabolic outcomes in adults. In particular, I investigate the risk relationships between ADHD and type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality, and I evaluate the safety of concomitant use of ADHD medications with cardiometabolic medications.

The research comprises two main components:

•  Register-based studies using Swedish nationwide data
  This component links the Swedish National Diabetes Register with multiple other Swedish health and administrative national registers. The studies aim to systematically quantify the impact of ADHD and ADHD pharmacotherapy on the progression of cardiometabolic disease, and to assess whether long-term co-treatment with ADHD medications and cardiometabolic medications is associated with harmful drug-drug interactions. The findings will inform individualized prescribing strategies for high-risk populations.

•  Multinational studies within the TIMESPAN consortium
  This component is conducted under the TIMESPAN consortium, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme. The consortium brings together international experts in psychiatry, epidemiology, genetics, and artificial intelligence to advance global evidence generation and precision approaches to ADHD-cardiometabolic comorbidity. As an data-analyst for consortium subprojects, my work is to develop and harmonize data management standards and the statistical analysis framework across participating countries, and build shared analytical scripts to enable consistent analytical process across heterogeneous healthcare systems - thereby ensuring cross-country comparability and reproducibility. I also coordinate statisticians and clinical researchers across sites to advance data processing and analyses. After completion of local analyses, I synthesize results from healthcare databases across seven countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, and Australia). Using meta-analysis and data visualization, I translate multi-country findings into clinically relevant evidence to support subsequent clinical decision-making and policy discussions.

• Teaching Assistant on master-level education course Observational Study Designs, delivered as part of master program Study Design and Analysis in Medical Research (Program number 5BD003), 2025 Autumn semester.
• Co-supervisor on psychology program thesis project Association Between Comorbid Sleep Disorders and School Performance in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Evidence from a Register-Based Study, 2024 Spring semester.
• Teaching Assistant on doctoral-level education course Extensions to the design and analysis of controlled epidemiological studies (Course nummer 5577), 2022 Autumn semester & 2024 Autumn semester.
• Research Assistant on textbook publication Controlled Epidemiological Studies (ISBN: 9780367186784), 2021 Autumn semester - 2022 Autumn semester.