The Master Programme provides a theoretical base on health and health systems, focusing on methodology and training in different research methods. Our uniqueness is the emphasis in innovation and technological support and services in global health.
One of the strengths of the class is their broad variety in educational backgrounds, representing Bachelor degrees in areas like Health Science, Nursing, Midwife, Public Health, Technological fields and others.

Tine Camilla Norderhaug, Pushpanjali Shakya and Prince Oppong-Darko have just had their second lecture, and are confident that this Master’s study will teach them useful skills they are eager to use to improve public health.

Global Health students Prince Oppong-Darko, Pushpanjali Shakya and Stine Camilla Norderhaug,

The three students are good examples of the wide variety of backgrounds. Prince, from Ghana, has a BA in Public Health and had a position as Information Officer in the Ghana Health Service. Pushpanjali has a background as an Intensie Care Unit (ICU) nurse and nurse educator in patient education and staff development induction program. Tine Camilla has a Bachelor degree from the Norwegian University of Sports Science in Oslo, and has worked as a Red Cross Youth Delegate in Lesotho.

They share a common goal: to improve public health where it is needed most. For Pushpanjali, this translates into a wish to help the prevention of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease in her home country. Prince envisions the implementation of more user-based technology in the health care system which will make help available for more people and overcome travel distances. Tine is not sure yet what her final focus will be, but is confident that she will find it in the course of the study.

They are looking forward to learning about research methods, statistics, public health and innovation in health and many other topics, as they are sure these will give them the necessary tools to improve health services where it is most needed.

All three mention the international student environment both at NTNU as a whole and the Master’s program in particular as a reason for choosing NTNU. The atmosphere sure feels good with such a variety of people, backgrounds, and expertise to be exchanged!

2015 Students in the Master Program Public Health – Global Health

Elisabeth Darj is Professor in Global Health at NTNU and the head of the Programme Board. Darj has built this Master Programme over the last two years, and she is very enthusiastic to see the new students at our campus.
“This student group is such a nice mix from various countries and backgrounds and they seem to get along well together directly from the start, as they have a common interest in this education. During the coming two years the students will get knowledge and skills of how to approach the global burden of ill-health, with different research methods, collaboration and insights in the complexity of health systems and policies. This program is unique, as one of the courses ‘Innovation in Global Health’ focus on how to use new technology to improve health care. And they will hopefully have a lot of fun, meeting new friends and enjoy Trondheim and Norway.”

We believe these students will be at the forefront of what the Faculty of Medicine stands for: “Health for a better world!”

Happy Students in Master Program Global Health!

Website Master of Science in Public Health – specializing in Global Health

Video about the Master’s program on Youtube

As for the SGA study, a contract worth $ 686,000 that took effect on June 1, 1984 was the first of its kind between the Faculty of Medicine and an external funding agency. On behalf of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and in cooperation with Uppsala University and the University of Bergen, the faculty planned, organized and conducted a detailed study of mothers through pregnancy and at birth. A follow-up of selected children during their first year of life (1986-89) and again at 5 years of age (1991-94) was later funded by a second contract ($ 618,000).

A vast amount of data are now available from pregnancy and delivery, at birth and through the first to five years of life which can be analysed longitudinally and/or cross sectionally. In addition to clinical and other information regarding development, health, behaviour, aptitudes and skills an overwhelming amount of serum samples are stored in a modernised biobank. Serum samples were collected longitudinally throughout pregnancy and at birth and are available for research purposes. The study is still in progress with new results from later follow-up studies of the mothers and their offspring.

The VLBW study is chaired by  Professors Ann-Mari Brubakk and Jon Skranes, who have amongst others, followed up around 230 of the Scandinavian SGA study in Trondheim at 14-15 at 19-20 years of age. Comprehensive clinical data have been collected in addition to information about physical development, behaviour, mental qualities, aptitudes, education, and psychiatric disorders and symptoms. A cerebral MRI scan has been conducted on both occasions. An interdependent and interdisciplinary cooperation has been established between the SGA and VLBW studies. The young adults are currently being followed up at age 26 years

An international seminar will now be held to mark the first 30 Years of the NICHD Scandinavian Successive Small for Gestational Age (SGA) Births Study.
The seminar will span Monday 16 June and Tuesday 17 June 2014, is sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine, NTNU and organized by the Department of Public Health and General Practice.
Professor Geir W. Jacobsen has since 1998 been the Principal Investigator of the SGA study and will act as host.

The program can be found on http://www.ntnu.no/ism/sgaseminar
More information on the SGA studies can be found on http://www.ntnu.no/ism/forskning/sga

For participation, please contact: Guri.Helmersen@ntnu.no

This story started as a puzzle. Notwithstanding their age, high BMI and a certain lifestyle, two elderly men who were included in a research project in Sweden and Finland did not have diabetes. It turned out that they were carriers of a mutation in a gene that was known to raise the risk of getting diabetes. The gene codes for a zink transporter called ZnT8 that has its effect in the pancreas, where insulin is made. With one copy of the gene destroyed, these men seemed to be protected from getting diabetes. This was so intriguing that more participants were included into the study. Indeed, more people were detected who did not have diabetes despite high age and often being obese.

To obtain more certainty of the association found, the research team now wanted to include a really large group of individuals and study this gene. With only one out of 2000 persons carrying this mutation, they need to include many cohorts, and HUNT was among these. In total, 150.000 participants from 14 cohorts contributed with their genetic material, among them HUNT. The pooled results were published in Nature Genetics in March, 2^nd, 2014. They show that having the gene mutation reduces the risks for getting diabetes with about two-thirds. People with this mutation seem to produce more insulin and have lower blood sugar levels throughout their lives, and this protects them to a large extent against diabetes. The next step is to try and develop new drugs against diabetes that may act in a similar manner as this gene mutation.

This is an example of what The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study can contribute to when we share our data with other researchers both home and abroad.

Picture: overview of genetic findings from the contributing cohorts. HUNT er visible as the middle green dot. Reproduced with permission from Nature Genetics.

Flannick J, Thorleifsson G, Beer NL et al. Loss-of-function mutations in SLC30A8 protect against type 2 diabetes. Nature Genetics, 2014 March 2. Read more in Norwegian at forskning.no
Read international news item at  MedScape

HUNT biobank ansatte er godt fornøyd med prisen!
Bilde: Vegard Marschhäuser

Octobre 11th was a big day for HUNT biobank, when they were awarded the title of  “European Research Biobank of the Year, 2013” in Verona, Italy. Managing director of the HUNT Biobank Kristian Hveem, comments with a satisfied tone: “In addition to this being a wonderful acknowledgement of everything that is built up around The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study over almost 30 years, this also shows that we have chosen a way to design, build, manage and control operations that is being valued by others. I wish to thank all of those who have enabled this by their continuing efforts and hard work to keep improving our organization.”

This was the first time the competition was arranged by ESBB (European, Middle Eastern and African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking). Competing for the title were 17 biobanks from 11 countries. They were judged by 6 criteria:•       Quality (materials and operations)
•      Transparency (outreach activities and donor relations)
•      Usage (sample turnover)
•      Connectivity (integration into Biobank networks and trans-institutional infrastructure)
•      Innovation (innovative solutions for any kind of Biobank-related problems)
•      Sustainability (outline of business model)

At the end of the day it was HUNT biobank who could claim victory – an achievement we are proud of!

Vegar Rangul, disputerer 13. juni 2013

”Klekkeriet” står det på den røde brakka som er satt opp ved siden av åkeren i Levanger. Man skulle tro det lille røde bygget er en utvidelse av bondegården like ved. Men når du går inn på de provisoriske lokalene er det langt fra hønekakling du møter. Stille og arbeidsro, noen avisutklipp fra forskningsresultater på en dør, en ung mann som rolig jobber foran pc-en.  Mest oppsiktsvekkende er vel kanskje denne roen, for han her er Vegar Rangul, som skal disputere neste uke. En kort stund trodde vi på HUNT at han ville ha æren av å være doktor #100 som disputerer på HUNT materiale. Men det går fort i doktorsvingene på HUNT….. Dette kommer jeg tilbake til.

Første doktoravhandling på HUNT materiale i 1989

Hvem hadde ventet at Helseundersøkelsen i Nord-Trøndelag ville danne grunnlaget for over 100 doktoravhandlinger? I hvert fall ikke Jostein Holmen, da han tok sin doktorgrad i 1992 om blodtrykket i Nord-Trøndelag. Han var nummer 2  i rekken av HUNT-stipendiater, 8 år etter at den første helseundersøkelsen startet. Den aller første doktoravhandlingen ble skrevet av Arild Bjørndal i 1989. Tittelen var «En pille for alt som er ille?: en analyse av psykofarmakaforbruket i Helseundersøkelsen i Nord-Trøndelag 1984-86». Dette var en rapport (monografi) skrevet på norsk.  – Det var ikke uvanlig på den tiden, husker Jostein Holmen. – Spesielt i vårt fagfelt, helsetjenesteforskning, var det fullt akseptert å skrive monografier – det gjorde også jeg.

Senere kom det flere epidemiologer som engasjerte seg i forskning med HUNT, og i dette fagfelt er det vanlig å skrive en avhandling basert på publikasjoner i engelskspråklige vitenskapelige tidsskrifter. Dette har etter hvert blitt standard for de fleste avhandlinger. Også språket ble raskt erstattet fra norsk til engelsk: bare nummer 1, 2, 7 og 13 hadde en norsk tittel.

Vegar Rangul, disputerer 13. juni 2013

Flere doktorgrader, mer fokus, mindre volum

På spørsmål om det er flere forskjeller mellom doktorgradsarbeid da og nå, tror Holmen at stipendiater i dag blir loset inn i en mye mer strømlinjet og  effektiv prosess enn før, hvor de produserer et fast antall publikasjoner innenfor mer begrensede problemstillinger. – Det var kanskje mer bredde på doktorgradsarbeider før, og de var nok ofte også større i omfang, sier han. – Da kunne folk holde på i mange år og utdype et område. Stipendiater i dag har ikke tid til det – de må levere innen tre år, og da blir det viktig at de begrenser sine oppgaver. Men jeg har ingen holdepunkter for å si at kvaliteten i dag er dårligere enn før,  og det er klart at en slik tilnærming bærer frukter. Det var etter at vi ble en del av NTNU i 2001 at det virkelig tok av, sier Holmen.

Det var etter at vi ble en del av NTNU i 2001 at det virkelig tok av

Kobling med andre datakilder

En annen faktor som bidro til flere avhandlinger er at HUNT data og biologisk materiale i langt større grad en før blir koblet mot andre opplysninger. Noen eksempler er nasjonale registre om for eksempel kreft, dødsårsak, trygd eller sykehusjournaler med diagnoser. I tillegg er det flere stipendiater som bruker materialet som en del av doktorgraden, og ikke baserer hele avhandlingen kun på HUNT. Men alle avhandlinger hvor HUNT blir brukt, teller!

Fra diabetes til rus

Spekteret av forskningsemner som bruker materialet fra Nord-Trøndelag er vidt. Når vi ser på de siste 20 avhandlingene handler de blant annet om: diabetes, vektutvikling, genetikk og lungekreft, ungdommer og rus, urininkontinens, kjønnsforskjeller i helse, kronisk smerte blant ungdommer, alkoholbruk, religion og helse, angst og depresjon, søvnløshet, og partnerlikhet over årene. Og så vil vi snart oppleve nummer 104: Om ungdommer og fysisk aktivitet. For det viste seg at det var enda flere som hadde disputert med bruk av «våre» data enn vi på HUNT forskningssenter var klar over. Materialet blir nemlig brukt av forskere i hele Norge, og da kan det noen ganger bli litt vanskelig å holde oversikt over når disputaser finner sted.

(…) det viste seg at det var enda flere som hadde disputert med bruk av «våre» data enn vi på HUNT forskningssenter var klar over.

Flere enn 100 doktorgrader

Tilbake til klekkeriet er heldigvis ikke Vegar Rangul lei seg når han får vite at han ikke er nummer 100 allikevel. Bare folk blir kjent med funnene hans om følgene av fysisk (in)aktivitet i ungdomsårene for senere risiko på hjerte- og karsykdom er han fornøyd. – Og det er jo egentlig fantastisk at HUNT materiale gir næring til så mange doktorgrader!

– Ja, det e heilt otrole!, smiler også nord-trønderen Holmen fornøyd.

Jostein Holmen, her med avhandling nr 1 og 2 i hånda, og med «klekkeriet» i bakgrunnen.

Gå til oversikt over alle doktorgrader med HUNT-materiale

Ordliste:

• PhD / doktorgrad  = Philosopher’s Degree den høyeste unversitære grad man kan oppnå gjennom studier
•  (PhD) /(doktorgrads) stipendiat = en som studerer til doktorgrad
• (doktor)avhandling = arbeidet man skriver for å få graden PhD og som ligger til grunn for vurderingen
• disputas =  en type eksamen hvor doktorgradsstipendiaten forsvarer sitt arbeid som nedfelt i avhandlingen
• å disputere = ta disputas