Thrombosis Research Group (TREC)

Members

John Bjarne HansenProfessor (Group leader)

John Bjarne Hansen – Professor

Research interests:

Clinical epidemiology and risk factors of venous thromboembolism, Diagnostic and predictive biomarkers of venous thromboembolism, Pathophysiology of venous thromboembolism

Current positions:

Head of Thrombosis Research Group (TREC)

Head of Thrombosis Research Center (TREC), University Hospital of North Norway

Publications

>300 original full papers in peer-reviewed journals listed in PubMed and 22 review articles and 12 book chapters. Contributed to >370 abstracts presented at and published in conjunction with scientific international meetings/conferences. H-index: 51.

Supervision of PhD-students and postdoctors

Completed PhDs: Main supervisor: 35; Co-supervisor: 5

Ongoing PhDs: 7 as main supervisor and 6 as co-supervisor

Mentor for 13 previous and 3 present postdoctors

Other relevant professional experiences

2016-21 Chair of the Subcommittee Diagnostic and predictive variables, ISTH

2015-20 Member of the scientific program committee of the European Haematology Association (EHA)

2015- Member of the organization committee of the European Congress of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ECTH)

2015 - Associate investigator Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM)

2014 -20 Associate editor Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis

Contact:

Position: Professor

E-mail: john-bjarne.hansen@uit.no

Work phone: +4777625105

Link to employee page (John Bjarne Hansen)

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Sigrid Kufaas BrækkanProfessor

Sigrid Kufaas Brækkan – Professor

Research interests:

My main research interest is the epidemiology and pathogenesis of venous thromboembolism (VTE). In order to optimize prevention and treatment of the disease, it is crucial to better understand the mechanisms of venous thrombus formation and how risk factors contribute to or interplay in this process.

I have trained as an epidemiologist within the field of thrombosis and hemostasis, and worked with studies on the relationship between arterial and venous thrombosis, life-style factors and VTE, biomarkers for future VTE, cancer-related VTE, as well as complications after VTE.

Publications

>165 original full papers in peer-reviewed journals listed in PubMed. Contributed to more than 200 abstracts presented at and published in conjunction with scientific international meetings/conferences.

Supervision of PhD-students

Completed PhDs: Main supervisor: 4; Co-supervisor: 20

Ongoing PhDs: 4 as main supervisor and 7 as co-supervisor

Other relevant professional experiences

2021-dd Associate Editor in Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (JTH)

2016-2021 Appointed as methodological reviewer in JTH

2016-2018 Member of the junior advisory board for the European Congress on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ECTH)

Awards

Young Investigator Award ISTH2016 (International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis)

Faculty of Health Sciences Young Investigator Award 2017

Contact:

Position: Professor

E-mail: sigrid.brakkan@uit.no

Work phone: +4777625106

Private phone: +47 957 47627

Link to employee page (Sigrid Kufaas Brækkan)

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Omri SnirAssociate Professor

Thor UelandProfessor II

Vania Maris MorelliResearcher

Vania Maris Morelli – Researcher

University Hospital of North Norway

Contact:

Position: Researcher

E-mail: vania.m.morelli@uit.no

Work phone: Private phone: 94783339

I am a medical doctor and approved specialist in Internal Medicine and Hematology in Brazil. I obtained my first PhD (Hematology) in Brazil in 2000. Given my growing interest in research on the epidemiology of venous thromboembolism (VTE), I moved to the Netherlands in 2014 and started a second PhD at the Department of Clinical Epidemiology (Leiden University Medical Center - LUMC). After obtaining my PhD at LUMC in 2017, I joined the Thrombosis Research Group (TREC) at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway as a researcher. My main research interest is the epidemiology and pathophysiology of VTE, with a special focus on the investigation of novel VTE biomarkers that could serve as potential targets for VTE prevention and treatment. I have contributed to >65 original full papers in peer-reviewed journals in PUBMED (about 60% of which published from 2019 onwards). I have supervised 3 PhD-students as main supervisor and 4 as co-supervisor to completion of PhD. I am currently main supervisor for 2 and co-supervisor for 4 PhD-students. Since 2022, I have served as Associate Editor in Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis (RPTH), the Open Access journal of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH). In 2021 and 2022, I received awards for Outstanding Editorial Board Performance in RPTH.

Link to employee page (Vania Maris Morelli)

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Nadezhda LatyshevaResearch technician

Samantha SwamyDoctoral Research Fellow

Lisa JakobsenPhD student

Maryam HosseiniDoctoral Research Fellow

Eduarda Mazagao GuerreiroResearcher

Christopher AntounDoctoral Research Fellow

Kristian Dalsbø HindbergResearcher

Celina Janene CathroDoctoral Research Fellow

Carl Arne Løchen ArnesenDoctoral Research Fellow

Christabel Esi DamoahDoctoral Research Fellow

Ellen-Sofie Wulff EilertsenPhD student

Oda Gabrielle R. LeknessundMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Anna Yang ArntzenMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Nikolai Hagensen EideMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Inga RøstvoldMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Mathias Haugmo StorvandMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Asbjørn Lund OnsakerMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Vårin Eiriksdatter WikanMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Camilla LangholmMD PhD student (Forskerlinja)

Latest news

23.01.2024

New finding: MicroRNA associated with lower risk of VTE!

20.09.2023

TREC presented recent results at ECTH2023 in Valencia

07.08.2023

Overweight and obesity – a major contributor to VTE

In a recent study, we showed that 1/4 of all venous thromboembolism (VTE) events in the population can be attributed to overweight and obesity.

Obesity has emerged as one of the most relevant modifiable risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) over the past decades. Obesity is associated with a two- to three-fold increased risk of VTE, and the risk increases linearly with increasing body mass index (BMI). However, data on the proportion of incident VTEs attributed to overweight and obesity in the general population are limited. We therefore investigated the population attributable fraction of overweight and obesity for VTE using data from the 4-7 surveys of the Tromsø study. More than 36 000 people were included in the study and followed for a median of 14 years.

We found that almost 25% of all VTEs in the population could be attributed to overweight and obesity. Thus, from a public health perspective, overweight and obesity are major contributors to the VTE burden in the general population. Our findings further suggest that public health efforts to lower the prevalence of obesity along with targeted interventions to reduce thrombosis risk in overweight and obese individuals may substantially lower the incidence of VTE in the general population.

The paper was published online in Thrombosis and Haemostasis in August 2023, and it also received an accompanying editorial commentary.

You can find the original paper here:

Frischmuth et al. The Risk of Incident Venous Thromboembolism Attributed to Overweight and Obesity: The Tromsø Study. Thromb Haemost 2023 Aug 7. doi: 10.1055/s-0043-1772212.

Editorial commentary:

Martin et al. Venous Thromboembolism and Obesity: Moving Toward a Better Understanding of the Population-Attributable Risk. Thromb Haemost. 2023 Oct 9. doi: 10.1055/s-0043-1776010. Obesity (MostPhotos.com)

Obesity is a risk factor for VTE. Illustration: MostPhotos.com

Published: 07.08.2023

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