Naja Hulvej Rod

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Naja Hulvej Rod (Formerly Naja Rod Nielsen) MS, PhD, DMSc LinkedIn: Naja Hulvej Rod Twitter: @HulvejRod

 

EDUCATION

DMSc in Medicine	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2014
PhD in Epidemiology	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA	2007
Master of Public Health Science	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2004
Bachelor of Public Health Science	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2002

CURRENT APPOINTMENTS

Head of Section of Epidemiology	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2018-
Professor of Epidemiology	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2019-
Adjunct Researcher	University of Stockholm, Sweden	2017-

PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS

Professor (mso) of Stress Epidemiology	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2017-2019
Associate Professor of Epidemiology	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2008-2017
Adjunct Postdoctoral Fellow	University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA	2008-2011
Researcher	National Institute of Public Health, Denmark	2007-2008
Teaching Assistant	University of Copenhagen, Denmark	2005-2006
Research Assistant	National Institute of Public Health, Denmark	2002-2006
Epidemiologic advisor	RAND Health, Santa Monica, USA	2004
Research Assistant	Institute of Preventive Medicine, Denmark	2001-2002

CAREER BREAKS

Three periods of maternity leave; July 2007 to March 2008 (9 months), June 2010 to February 2011 (9 months) and from October 2013 to June 2014 (9 months).

RESEARCH STATEMENT

I am Head and co-Founder of the Section of Epidemiology, which is a strong interdisciplinary and international environment that contributes to the development of the field of theoretical epidemiology, with a specific focus on causal inference, complexity and life course epidemiology. I am also heading an interdisciplinary research group in Complexity and Big Data in Epidemiology. Health is a complex phenomenon, and the aim of the research group is to study the social and biological factors determining health and disease and to elucidate the underlying behavioral, psychological, and physiological mechanisms that might explain these effects. I specifically aim to investigate the health consequences of the accumulation of childhood social adversities and the complex interactions between work, life and health as they evolve across the life span. I have solid experience in working with longitudinal datasets, register-based research and complex modelling including social influences and group dynamics. I also have a particular interest in causal inference and in development and application of new methods in epidemiology, such as interaction and mediation analyses. To embrace complexity in epidemiology I actively explore new sources (e.g. smartphones) of ‘big data’, incorporate system theory thinking and leverage insights across disciplines. I am also involved in several citizen science projects with a direct societal engagement and impact.

HONORS

DFF Starting Grant (Sapere Aude), Independent Research Fund Denmark            2017

Matas’ Heart Prize, Danish Heart Foundation                                                      2011

Raymond D. Goodman Scholarship Award, UCLA                                                2006

RESEARCH LEADERSHIP

Primary investigator for the citizen science research project ‘Standing together – at a distance: How Danes are living with the Corona Crisis’ (https://coronaminds.ku.dk/), which documents the public health effects of the crisis. 2020- Primary investigator for the SmartSleep program (www.smartsleep.ku.dk), which is a multi-sourced study on mobile phone use, sleep and health 2018- Primary Investigator of the Danish Life Course (DANLIFE) Cohort (www.danlife.ku.dk), which is a register-based cohort of more than 2 mill Danish children focusing on childhood adversities 2017- Head of the Steering Committee for the Copenhagen Stress Research Center (www.stressresearch.ku.dk), which has been established to provide coordinated and innovative research into the mechanisms, health consequences and prevention of stress 2012-2019 Head of the research group in Complexity and Big Data in Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen (https://publichealth.ku.dk/sections/section-epidemiology/research/complexity-and-big-data/) 2015- Primary investigator of the Stress and Health Sub-study of CAMB, which includes detailed information on physiological stress mechanisms 2010-

RESEARCH FUNDS

I have, in total, received 4.24 million Euros (equivalent to 31.8 mill DKK) in research funds as primary investigator and more than 3.1 m Euros as co-PI.

Funded projects where I am PI:

• A nationwide study on childhood adversities and gestational diabetes mellitus: understanding mechanisms, pathways, and consequences. Independent Research Fund Denmark, 380,200 Euros, 2021 to 2024, PI
• Working environment in Danish Hospitals. The Danish Regions, 460,000 Euros, 2019 to 2022, PI
• Healthy working among people with chronic disorders. Danish Work Environment Foundation, 340,000 Euros, 2019 to 2022, PI
• Parental leave reforms and women’s health. Danish Health Insurance Foundation, 52,000 Euros, 2018 to 2020, PI together with Emilie Courtin
• The SmartSleep program. Documenting health consequences of smartphone interrupted sleep through a pioneering combination of high-resolution smartphone data and rich clinical health data, DFF Starting Grant (Sapere Aude), Independent Research Fund Denmark, 757,000 Euros, 2018 to 2021, PI
• Psychosocial working environment and the risk of diabetes, sickness absence and disability pension (PSA-DISPO), Danish Work Environment Foundation, 512,000 Euros, 2017 to 2020, co-PI
• Negative social relations at work and risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease: mediating mechanisms, Danish Work Environment Foundation, 123,320 Euros, 2016 to 2019, PI
• Psychosocial work environment in the Region, Danish Regions, 245,000 Euros, 2016 to 2018, PI
• Childhood adversities and onset of type 1 diabetes, Innovation Foundation, 145,000 Euros, Company PhD to Jessica Linnéa Bengtsson, 2016 to 2019, Co-PI from the University.
• Resourceful work: a multi-national study on health effects of improvement in work environment, Danish Work Environment Foundation, 520,000 Euros, 2016 to 2019, PI
• Psychosocial work environment and healthy ageing, NordForsk, 2015 to 2020, 2.6 mill Euros, PI: Mika Kivimaki, co-PI for Work package 2
• Social capital at hospitals – well-being, sickness absence and quality of work, Danish Work Environment Foundation, 306,000 Euros, 2014 to 2017, PI
• Health consequences of the complex interplay between psychosocial work demands and demands in private life, Danish Work Environment Foundation, 435,000 Euros, 2013 to 2017, PI
• Impaired sleep and cancer, Lundbeck Foundation, 13,500 Euros, 2011 to 2012, PI
• Psychosocial risk factors for Parkinson’s Disease, Danish Health Insurance Foundation, 46,500 Euros, 2011 to 2012, PI
• Impaired sleep and cardiovascular disease prognosis, Danish Health Insurance Foundation, 53,500 Euros, 2010 to 2012, PI
• Psychosocial factors and cardiovascular disease: Understanding the mechanisms for men and women, Danish Heart Association, 53,500 Euros, 2010 to 2011, PI
• Life course stress and risk of chronic obstructive lung disease, Lundbeck Foundation, 16,000 Euros, 2009 to 2010, PI
• Stress and risk of developing the metabolic syndrome, Danish Heart Association, 13,500 Euros, 2009 to 2010, PI
• Stress-related morbidity and mortality, Danish Research Council, 306,500 Euros, 2007 to 2011, PI  

 

ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

2012-2013	Scientific Committee Member for the IEA-IEE European Congress of Epidemiology 2013
2010-2011	Scientific Committee Member for the European Public Health Association Conference 2011
2005-	Scientific Committee Member for the annual Danish Stress Research Conference

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

2019-	Member of the management team of the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen
2014-	Head of Research Education Program in Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2010-2016	Member of Educational Board for Master in Public Health Science, University of Copenhagen

 

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK

Formalized collaborations around the DANLIFE cohort with Professors at Imperial College London, University College London, Harvard School of Public Health and INSERM in France	2018-
Visiting Professor, Department of Epidemiology, UCLA School of Public Health, USA (6 weeks)	2017
Visiting Researcher, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM), Paris, France (4 weeks)	2014
Visiting Researcher, Department of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden (3 weeks)	2013
Visiting Researcher, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (4 weeks)	2012
Program Director for the Danish arm of the IDEAR (Integrated Datasets across Europe for Ageing Research) network, which has been established in order to improve research on chronic diseases and aging (www.idear-net.net). The IDEAR network brings together large, well-established cohort studies from five European countries and builds on a highly productive collaboration between researchers at University of Copenhagen; University College London, UK; Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute, Sweden; INSERM, France; and University of Turku, Finland	2010-
Research stay at the Bandim Health Project, Guinea-Bissau, West Africa (3 months)	2004

COMMISIONS OF TRUST

2021- Scientific Advisory Board Member of the national French Health Data Hub 2021 Scientific Expert Panel Member, Evaluating the strategic program Health, Finnish Strategic Research Council 2020- Steering group member for COVID-MINDS, which is a Wellcome Trust funded network of longitudinal studies on the global mental health impact of Covid-19 (covidminds.org) 2020 Appointed member of expert panel designing the COVID-19 population testing and surveillance in Denmark for the Danish Health Authority 2020 External scientific reviewer, ERC starting grant 2019- Advisory board member, Center for Digital Health, Danish National Board of Health 2019-2020 Scientific Evaluation Committee member, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte) 2015- Board Member, the Council on Health and Disease Prevention, Denmark 2014-2017 International Scientific Reviewer, National Cancer Institute, France 2011-2015 Board Member, Danish Epidemiologic Society, Denmark 2011 International Scientific Reviewer, Swedish Research Council

REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS

British Medical Journal, Psychological Medicine, Cancer Causes and Control, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Diabetologia, Steroids, Acta Oncologica, International Journal of Epidemiology, Journal of Sleep Research, JAMA

SELECTED INVITED TALKS AND TEACHING

2020	Keynote speaker, ’Moderation in health inequality research’, Invited Workshop on Mechanisms in Social Inequalities in Health, Committee on health inequalities, European Academies of Science, Paris
2019	Keynote speaker, ‘Complexity, causality and big data: the mix and match of modern epidemiology’ 9th Nordic Conference of Epidemiology and Register-based Health Research, Tampere, Finland
2019	Invited speaker, ‘Complexity and causality in Epidemiology’, Symposium, School of Public Health, Peking University
2019	Keynote speaker, ‘Childhood adversities across a life course: findings from a nationwide cohort’ Symposium, Institute of Child Health, University College London
2018	Invited expert, the National Stress Panel, National Ministry of Health, Denmark
2018	Keynote speaker, Danish Society for Obesity Research annual meeting, Nyborg
2017	Keynote speaker, 14th Stress Research Conference, Copenhagen
2017	Invited speaker, seminar series on epidemiologic methods, University of California, San Diego
2016	Panel discussant, Conference on Social Innovation, Copenhagen, Denmark
2015	Keynote speaker, National Working Environment Conference, Nyborg, Denmark
2015	Keynote speaker, 11th Parkinson’s Disease Meeting, Stockholm, Sweden
2013	Lecturer at a 3-day PhD level course on Causal Inference, Center for Social Inequity Studies, Stockholm University and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden
2013	Keynote-speaker at the Summer School of the national graduate research program in Public Health (GRASPH), Denmark
2012	Invited expert, workshop on psychosocial risk management  in the EU- company experiences in the context of regulatory frameworks and politics at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Germany
2012	Invited expert on stress, National Ministry of Health, Denmark

TEACHING AND SUPERVISION

I am responsible for PhD-level courses in Causal Inference and Introduction to Directed Acyclic Graphs at the University of Copenhagen. I also give lectures in stress and sleep epidemiology. I have been the main advisor for numerous bachelor and master students in Public Health Science and Medicine at the University of Copenhagen, and I have been on the assessment committee for seven PhD theses and one Doctoral Dissertation.I am currently supervising four PhD students and I have supervised 14 PhD students, who have been awarded their PhD degree.