Freja has a background as a medical doctor and ecologist, with a particular interest in the Arctic. She is a PhD student in Infectious Disease Epidemiology in Magnus Evander’s group.
Freja has a BSc in Biology and MSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Helsinki (Finland). Her interest in the Arctic lead her first as an exchange student to the Arctic university of Norway (Tromsø), where she eventually stayed for two years finishing her Bachelor thesis and taking courses from the “Northern Populations and Ecosystems” Master programme, and doing field work for the Climate-ecological observatory for Arctic Tundra (COAT) project.
An interest for the wellbeing for both people and environment further lead her to the Medical Programme in Umeå (Sweden), studying to become a Medical Doctor.
After finishing Med School Freja is now working towards, in her PhD project, combining her knowledge in both ecology and medicine in a northern context. She’s working with the rodent-borne and climate-sensitive Puumala virus, which causes recurrent clinically relevant outbreaks in humans in northern Sweden. She’s pursuing the Doctoral Programme of the Medical Faculty, as well as being part of the Arctic Graduate School of Umeå University.