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Department

Method Development and Analytics

The department is a central research and method support unit in the Division of Infection Control and Environmental Health.

Contact

Switchboard:: +47 210 77 000

Department manager

Birgitte Freiesleben de Blasio

Visiting address

Lovisenberggata 6 og 8, 0456 Oslo

Post address

Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 222 Skøyen, N-0213 Oslo

Who we are

We are a research department within the Division of Infectious Disease Control with broad methodological competence. We are 39 researchers, bioengineers, and project managers, working across three sections:

Immunology:

We conduct laboratory-based studies to understand how the immune system responds to vaccines and infections so we can give advice about the best strategies to reduce the burden of infectious disease. We also serve as NIPH’s core facility for high-dimensional single cell analysis.

Vaccine epidemiology and population studies:

We conduct short and long-term follow-up studies of the Norwegian immunisation programmes, including vaccine effectiveness, safety and uptake, using population-based cohort and registry data.

Mathematical modelling and computational biology:

We develop mathematical and statistical models to extract information from surveillance and genomic data, and to predict how public health interventions will affect the transmission of infectious diseases.

What we do

We conduct research in immunology, epidemiology and modelling to understand the transmission and impact of infectious diseases and the effect of vaccines. Our work informs health policy and health preparedness in Norway.

Our main contributions to NIPH’s mission

  1. We optimise current and future vaccination strategies across the NIPH’s entire value chain by:
  • predicting the expected effect of public health interventions, including vaccination
  • modelling scenarios to give policymakers different response alternatives
  • providing immunological expertise and data for vaccination strategies and identification of risk groups
  • evaluating the effectiveness and safety of vaccines over time and across risk groups 
  1. We conduct research for future health preparedness by:
  • developing high-resolution health monitoring solutions for the future
  • modelling the development of antimicrobial resistance
  • maintaining a research infrastructure for ad hoc use in health crises

 

Section for immunology

Head of section: Unni C. Nygaard, PhD

  • We work to understand how the immune system responds to infection and vaccines, in order to inform public health advice and vaccine recommendations.
  • We identify groups at risk of low immune response to vaccines, and environmental risk factors that can further reduce vaccine effectiveness.
  • We are a scientific and methodological resource for NIPH and manage the institute’s core facility for high-dimensional single cell analysis.
  • We conduct research for preparedness: by keeping up to date with technological and scientific developments, we can give advice about predicted effects of new infectious threats and new vaccine technologies

Links to our ongoing research projects: 

Section for vaccine epidemiology and population studies

Head of section: Lill-Iren Schou Trogstad, MD PhD 

  • We follow up Norway’s immunisation programmes through epidemiological studies and by conducting research on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. 
  • We analyse and evaluate the consequences and impact of infections and immunisation programmes, including vaccine effectiveness, safety and vaccine uptake, and generate scientific advice to inform NIPH’s recommendations.
  • We conduct long-term population-based cohort-studies and collect data otherwise unavailable from registries and surveillance systems.
  • Our ready-to-use cohort infrastructure is a preparedness tool that can be employed in national health crises to quickly generate reliable, high-quality data to answer ad-hoc questions, and to follow up NIPH’s response. 

Links to our ongoing research projects: 

 

Section for Mathematical Modelling and Computational Biology

Head of section: Marissa Leblanc, PhD

  • We develop mathematical and statistical models to extract information from surveillance data and predict how public health interventions will affect the transmission of infectious diseases. Our methods include big data analytics and artificial intelligence.
  • We describe and classify infectious disease agents, and how their characteristics impact the expected disease burden.
  • Our models build on epidemiological surveillance and health care data, and we enrich them with non-traditional data sources, including mobility, traffic patterns, weather and payments.
  • We forecast the expected effect of different responses to infectious disease outbreaks and/or vaccine strategies. This gives decision makers the possibility to make informed choices between available strategy options.

Links to our ongoing research projects: 

Employees

Birgitte Freiesleben de Blasio

Birgitte Freiesleben de Blasio

Department Director

Photo of Birgitte Freiesleben de Blasio
Alfonso Diz-Lois Palomares

Alfonso Diz-Lois Palomares

Researcher

Photo of Alfonso Diz-Lois Palomares
Anja Bråthen Kristoffersen

Anja Bråthen Kristoffersen

Dominique Andree Yvette Caugant

Dominique Andree Yvette Caugant

Chief Scientist

Photo of Dominique Andree Yvette Caugant
Fatih Kizilaslan

Fatih Kizilaslan

Francesco Di Ruscio

Francesco Di Ruscio

Senior researcher

Photo of Francesco Di Ruscio
Gunnar Øyvind Isaksson Rø

Gunnar Øyvind Isaksson Rø

Senior Adviser

Photo of Gunnar Øyvind Isaksson Rø
Hilde Synnøve Vollan Gjerdrum

Hilde Synnøve Vollan Gjerdrum

Researcher

Photo of Hilde Synnøve Vollan Gjerdrum
Jenny Helene Mary Storvik

Jenny Helene Mary Storvik

Jon Bohlin

Jon Bohlin

Senior scientist

Photo of Jon Bohlin
Jon Michael Gran

Jon Michael Gran

Jonas Christoffer Lindstrøm

Jonas Christoffer Lindstrøm

Jørgen Eriksson Midtbø

Jørgen Eriksson Midtbø

Senior researcher

Photo of Jørgen Eriksson Midtbø
Marissa Erin Leblanc

Marissa Erin Leblanc

Head of section

Ola Brønstad Brynildsrud

Ola Brønstad Brynildsrud

Senior researcher

Photo of Ola Brønstad Brynildsrud
Pia Karoline Abel-Zur Wiesch Genannt Hülshoff

Pia Karoline Abel-Zur Wiesch Genannt Hülshoff

Sasikiran Kandula

Sasikiran Kandula

Senior Engineer

Asia-Sophia Fumika Michaela Wolf

Asia-Sophia Fumika Michaela Wolf

Audun Aase

Audun Aase

Senion Researcher

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Fredrik Oftung

Fredrik Oftung

Gro Tunheim

Gro Tunheim

Senior scientist

Guri Solum

Guri Solum

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Johanna Eva Bodin

Johanna Eva Bodin

Senior researcher

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Linn Margrethe Eggesbø

Linn Margrethe Eggesbø

Ratnadeep Mukherjee

Ratnadeep Mukherjee

Scientist

Photo of Ratnadeep Mukherjee
Sabin Bhandari

Sabin Bhandari

Research scientist

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Siri Mjaaland

Siri Mjaaland

Senior Researcher

Thea Kristine Rogne Møller

Thea Kristine Rogne Møller

Photo of Thea Kristine Rogne Møller
Tove Karin Herstad

Tove Karin Herstad

Senior Laboratory Technologist

Photo of Tove Karin Herstad
Unni Cecilie Nygaard

Unni Cecilie Nygaard

Section director

Photo of Unni Cecilie Nygaard
Anna Hayman Robertson

Anna Hayman Robertson

Senior Adviser

Berit Feiring

Berit Feiring

Senior Adviser

Carol Joanne Church Holm-Hansen

Carol Joanne Church Holm-Hansen

Senior Scientist / Professor

Photo of Carol Joanne Church Holm-Hansen
Ida Laake

Ida Laake

Senior researcher

Photo of Ida Laake
Ingvild Bokn

Ingvild Bokn

Kristine Blix

Kristine Blix

Researcher

Lill-Iren Schou Trogstad

Lill-Iren Schou Trogstad

Head of Section

Terese Bekkevold

Terese Bekkevold

Senior advisor