Doctor of Public Health. Member of the research group Lávvuo – Research and Education for Sámi Health. Since 2013, I also work on research strategy at the Arctic Centre.
I am Sámi with roots in the Málage/Malå forest Sámi community in Västerbotten. At the Arctic Centre, I work on research diplomacy and research strategic matters. We are deeply involved with the University of the Arctic (UArctic), a collaborative organization for universities worldwide focused on research and education in the northern regions. I am occasionally called upon as an expert in various international contexts, including by the European Polar Board (EPB), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2020, I was honored with knighthood in the French Academic Palms Order in recognition of my support for Arctic collaborations with French-speaking researchers and Indigenous individuals over the years.
My research has primarily revolved around nutrition epidemiology – that is, the associations between different dietary patterns and health. It has also delved into food systems in the north, including traditional Sámi food and those that may emerge in times of climate crisis and change. Since 2021, I have been part of the research group Lávvuo – Research and Education for Sámi Health – at the Department of Epidemiology and Global Health. Among other things, I have contributed as a researcher in Sweden's first national health survey focusing on Sámi people: Sámi Health on Equal Terms (Sami HET). This has resulted in my co-authorship of two public health reports and four scientific articles that describe the significance of Sámi traditional medicine, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Sámi population in Sweden, and violence against Sámi women.
As of October 2024, my research output included more than 100 scholarly works, including 38 small- or medium-sized peer-reviewed original articles, 12 book chapters, and 9 research reports (H-index=40). In 2023, I was involved in obtaining project funding from Forte for a three-year project on access to traditional food in elderly care, where we are investigating the situation for Sámi people in Sweden and the indigenous Mal Pharia in eastern India. We have also received support from Forte for another three-year project (2024-2026) to explore historical data on diet and health among school children who participated in the unique so-called 'Norrlandsundersökningen' in Arctic Sweden from 1921 to 1931.
I teach courses on Sámi and indigenous health at the Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, as well as on dietary surveys in biobank research at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine. I also supervise international master students at the Master in Public health programme at Epidemiology and Global Health.