Public Health

The initiative, “Public Health”, focuses on the prevention of disease, injury and disability, promotion of well-being, and implementation of effective health care services with research from an array of disciplines at the AAU.

Non-communicable diseases and injuries, such as heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer and self-harm, are primarily responsible for morbidity and mortality across Europe and worldwide. It is also broadly recognized that the global burden of disease and disability could be significantly reduced through changes in a select number of common risk factors (e.g., obesity, physical inactivity, depression, tobacco use, diet, and alcohol abuse). Further, there are many ways in which innovations in technology, behavioral science, and health care management could streamline efficacious health care service provision, increase accessibility for underserved groups, and reduce overall costs.

Accordingly, research in this initiative targets key public health problems and their common risk factors through multidisciplinary research in epidemiology, mental health, personalized medicine, informatics, and health care management. Specific projects, for example, focus on obesity prevention, epidemiology and treatment of depression, socioecological risk factors for family maltreatment, palliative care and chronic illnesses, economic and health costs related to tobacco use, as well as basic research on health promotion.

Moreover, the research in this initiative takes a modern approach to health care by focusing on development and implementation of technological advancements for improving health promotion and prevention outreach and improving health care system delivery (e.g., online programs, mobile apps, social networks, home-based technological applications).

At the AAU, experts from all four faculties contribute to this initiative. This is reflected by a large number of international publications in top-ranked journals as well as numerous externally funded projects across the disciplines.