Helga Zoega
Born1976 (age 47–48)
NationalityIcelandic
Occupation(s)professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine University of Iceland and Scientia A/Professor at the School of Population Health, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, Australia

Helga Zoega (born 1976) is a Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland. She is a Scientia A/Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on the use and safety of medication among vulnerable populations, e.g. pregnant women and children.[1][2]

Education

Zoega completed her BA in Political Science at the University of Iceland in 2002. In 2006, she completed an MA in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences at Columbia University.[3]

Zoega was the first to receive a doctorate in Public Health Sciences from the University of Iceland.[4] She defended her PhD thesis in 2011[5] on psychotropic medication use among children and the effect of ADHD treatment on academic progress.[6][7] Zoega was a postdoctoral fellow in Epidemiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, 2011–2013.

Professional experience

Zoega joined the Faculty of Medicine, Centre of Public Health Sciences at the University of Iceland in 2012 and was promoted to Professor in 2016.[8] Previously, she was as a project manager for the Icelandic Prescription Medicines Register at the Directorate of Health (2006-2008).[3]

In 2017–2018, Zoega was a Visiting Professorial Fellow at UNSW Sydney, where she was awarded a Scientia Program Award to further her research in Pharmacoepidemiology (2018-2026).[9]

Zoega has served on several scientific and ethical committees, including the Icelandic Science and Technology Policy Council & Icelandic Science Board (2016–19), appointed by the Prime Minister of Iceland.[10] She played a pivotal role in the founding of the Nordic Pharmaco-Epidemiological Network (NorPEN),[11] for which she served on the Executive Committee (2013–18).

Zoega plays a leading role in large-scale international consortia in providing real-world evidence of medication safety and effectiveness during pregnancy, including InPreSS (International Pregnancy Safety Study),[12] SCAN-AED (Nordic Register-Based Study of Antiepileptics in Pregnancy),[13] and Co-OPT (Consortium for the Study Of Pregnancy Treatments).[14] Zoega has led commissioned research for the Australian Department of Health with the objective of improving quality use of medication.

Research

Zoega is a pharmacoepidemiologist with expertise in the use, safety and effectiveness of medications. Her research program is based on the use of "real-world data", i.e. large-scale electronic health and social data linked across sources in Australia, the Nordic countries, and the US.[4]

Zoega's research findings on pharmacotherapy during pregnancy have been published in JAMA, BMJ, JAMA Psychiatry, Annals of Internal Medicine, etc. Her work on stimulant treatment for ADHD includes multinational studies on treatment patterns, effects on academic progress and impact of relative-age, published in Pediatrics, Lancet Psychiatry, J Child Psychol Psychiatry, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica[15] and widely covered in media outlets (New York Times, Time Online, Reuters, ABC, US News, Boston Globe, etc.).[16][17][18][19][20]

Personal

Helga Zoega (b. 1976) divides her time between Sydney and Reykjavik. She has daughter and a son.

Selected work

References

  1. ↑ Háskóli Íslands. Áhrif lyfjanotkunar á meðgöngu. Helga Zoéga, prófessor í lýðheilsuvísindum. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  2. ↑ University of Iceland. Connections between pregnancy complications and ADHD in children. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  3. 1 2 "University of Iceland. Professor of Public Health".
  4. 1 2 "Vísindavefurinn. (2018). Hvað hefur vísindamaðurinn Helga Zoega rannsakað?".
  5. ↑ Doktorsritgerð 2011: Psychotropic Drug Use among Children A Comparison of ADHD Drug Use in the Nordic Countries and the Effect of ADHD Drug Treatment on Academic Progress.
  6. ↑ Mbl.is. (2012, June 25). Tengsl milli einkunna og lyfjameðferðar við ADHD. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  7. ↑ Skrá um doktorsritgerðir Íslendinga. Helga Zoega. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  8. ↑ Háskóli Íslands. (2016). Hátt í fimmtíu fræðimenn fá framgang í starfi. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  9. ↑ UNSW Sydney. 2018 Scientia Fellowships drive equity, diversity and excellence in research. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  10. ↑ mbl.is. (2015, December 23).Ráðherra skipar vísinda- og tækniráð. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  11. ↑ Nordic Pharmaco-Epidemiological Network (NorPEN). . Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  12. ↑ Harvard Program on Perinatal and Pediatric Pharmacoepidemiology. Collaborators. The International Pregnancy Safety Study (InPreSS) Consortium. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  13. ↑ Bergen Epilepsy Research Group. SCAN-AED: Nordic register-based study of antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy.Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  14. ↑ The University of Edinburgh. Co-OPT: consortium for the study of pregnancy treatments. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  15. ↑ Google Scholar. Helga Zoega. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  16. ↑ Anahad O’Connor. (2012, November 20). Younger Students More Likely to Get A.D.H.D. Drugs. New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  17. ↑ Deborah Kotz. (2012, November 23). Youngest kids in class more likely to get ADHD drugs, study finds. Boston Globe. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  18. ↑ Lara Salahi. (2012, June 25). Earlier May Be Better for ADHD Meds in Kids. ABC News. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  19. ↑ Angus Chen. (2016, March 10). Youngest Kids In Class At Higher Risk Of ADHD Diagnosis. NPR. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  20. ↑ Huffington Post. (2016, May 23). Conclusive Proof ADHD Is Overdiagnosed. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
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