About me
I am Professor of Epidemiology at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, and Head of the Unit of Epidemiology. The research at our unit aims at increasing the understanding of the influence of environmental and lifestyle factors, as well as other risk factors, on the risk of disease, particularly cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and to further the understanding of the aging population health and determinants of longevity.
Research description
My main research area is within cancer epidemiology, with a primary focus on brain tumors and childhood cancers, as well as genetic syndromes associated with an increased cancer risk. We study risk factors for cancer development and factors affecting survival after a cancer diagnosis. We study chemical and physical exposures in the workplace and disease risk. We characterize socioeconomic differences in risk and survival in childhood cancer and brain tumors in adults. In Nordic collaborations, we have research programs focused on socioeconomic differences in childhood cancer risk (SOFIA) and disease burden and socioeconomic consequences in adult life after childhood cancer (SALiCCS). More recently, we use the same approach to study genetic syndromes such as neurofibromatosis and tuberous sklerosis. In many of our studies we utilize the unique population and health data registers in Sweden and the Nordic countries, but we also use surveys to collect data for research.
I have conducted research on potential health effects of non-ionizing radiation since the late 1980s, and I am currently the PI for the Swedish part of the COSMOS study – an international prospective cohort study of mobile phone users. I have led the Swedish component of several international case-control studies, such as the Interphone study of adult brain tumors, and the Cefalo study of childhood brain tumors.
During the past decade, my research has been funded by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, Nordforsk, and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority.
I am extensively involved in health risk assessment work, which is part of the mission of the Institute of Environmental Medicine. I have served as scientific expert in several national and international public advisory and research steering groups concerning the potential health effects of exposure to non-ionizing radiation, currently for the World Health Organization (WHO). I was vice chairman (2012-2020) of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), an independent body recommending science-based guidelines for non-ionizing radiation protection, which are used by a majority of countries that regulate exposure levels to protect population health, including Sweden.