Consultant Neonatologist
Karolinska University Hospital and Institute Stockholm, Sweden
I was born in Reykjavik, Iceland where I grew up. I went to medical school at the University of Iceland and became a pediatrician in 1987 at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC. I moved to Sweden in 1987 and began working at the neonatal ward at the Karolinska hospital in 1990 where I later became a specialist in neonatology. After that, I have had various roles, both within the neonatal ward as well as in the Karolinska hospital administration. I was admitted as a PhD student at the then newly formed Department of Women’s and Children’s Health in 1994 with Professor Hugo Lagercrantz as my main supervisor and defended my thesis in 1998. I´ve been affiliated as an associate professor at the Institution from 2009 and professor in neonatology from 2020. I´m currently the group leader for the neonatal pulmonary group at my KI institution.
My research interests are preterm babies’ breathing; respiratory support and chronical lung disease (bronchopulmonary dysplasia-BPD). We have explored mechanisms behind the babies’ lung damages, resulting from mechanical ventilation, the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of BPD and the treatment of it, as well as follow-up of the injuries related to the different respiratory support strategies. Moreover, we focus on preventing the development of BPD. I have, in that context, participated in different international collaborations and carried out my own clinical studies. The importance of using non-invasive respiratory support (CPAP) for the smallest babies has become an increasingly prominent part of my research. During the last years my research group has developed a new award-winning respiratory support for stabilizing the smallest babies at delivery.
I am good at fly-fishing and a passionate music-nerd record collector.