Johan Lerbech Vinther

Short presentation

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PHD-PROJECT

I'm a PhD Student in the Perinatal, Obstetric, and Pediatric Epidemiology (POPE) research group at Section of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, led by Professor Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen.

My PhD project investigates the association between gestational age at birth and offspring body size measures (height, BMI) in childhood and adolescence, focusing on geographic variations across Europe, North America and Australasia using repeated data from longitudinal cohort studies.

A primary data-sources in the PhD is the Danish National Birth Cohort (currently up to 18-years follow-up) and Danish Registry Data. In addition, I use data from birth cohorts in Europe, Canada and Australia.

The PhD project is epidemiological, and as my background and primary research interest lies in between the fields of (BSc, MSc) Sociology and (MSc) Epidemiology, I have a particular focus on the dynamics of social inequity/inequality in health over the life-course, e.g. the joint effect of preterm birth and low socioeconomic status.

In relation to the PhD project, I am involed in two EU-funded Horizon2020-projects; (1) the LifeCycle Project (https://lifecycle-project.eu/), whose overarching concept is to establish the EU Child Cohort Network and conduct research on the role of novel integrated markers of early-life stressors that influence health across the lifecycle. Also, I'm involved in (2) the EUCAN-Connect project (https://www.eucanconnect.eu/), which brings together science from Europe and Canada to improve the quality of health care through a more efficient use of data. The project aims to promote collaboration and multidisciplinary research in high-value cohort and molecular data on large scale.

Specifically, I'm involved in workpackages that involves integration and harmonization of data in the Cohort Network, and collaborate on research projects that integrates early life stressors (e.g. socio-economic and lifestyle), and develops life-course cardio-metabolic health trajectories.

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PERSONAL PROFILE

As an experienced Sociologist and Epidemioloigst, I have a demonstrated history working with quantitative and (although to a lesser extent) qualitative methods and analyses. I am skilled in the studies of Sociology and Epidemiology having great experience working with survey design, medical sociology, statistics in social and medical sciences.

In addition, I've gained solid knowledge and experience with intervention science and research being part of (and developed) a RCT-study on smoking in Danish vocational schools. 

Since 2013, I haved first authored published research in international peer-review and recognized journals within social and medical science, respectively. This has given me extensive knowledge, experience and understanding of research production and dissemination. As an example, I published a paper in Social Science & Medicine (2015) upon my Dissertation at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine with co-authors from Centre for Diet and Activity Research at University of Cambridge, where I was a visiting research scholar.

Furthermore, I've been affiliated with research centres in Glostrup (DK) and Copenhagen (DK) on a range of research projects. A general theme has been social inequality in health - in regard to prevention, treatment and interventions using qualitative and quantitative analyses,respectively. 

I am a determined energetic person, driven by personal and professional challenges in stimulating environments. I have a critical, analytical mind-set giving me a curiosity and the ability to solve complex social problems of smaller and larger scale, e.g. related to inequality or marginalization. 

I find explicit joy working with people across professional and social layers and cultures. This has inspired me to unique personal and professional challenges in San Diego, London and Cambridge. This has given me a very strong analytic, methodological & research profile with extensive knowledge and a wide international network within the fields of social and health science.