Virus, Lifestyle and Genes
The group Virus, Lifestyle and Genes is known for its establishment and studies of large, population-based cohorts - and of course for its commitment to the study of HPV
Our research
The backbone of our research is the establishment of large population-based cohorts with collection of information on lifestyle habits, and biological samples (e.g., cervical cell samples, blood samples) stored in large biobanks.
We aim at having a strong link to clinical and translational research, and an important part of our studies falls within the area of molecular biological and clinical epidemiology with most studies being multidisciplinary.
Examples of focus areas:
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) and cancer
- Screening and/or early detection of cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Cancer and other morbidity among women with infertility problems and their children
- Gene-environment interactions in cancer development
- Childhood cancer
We are also engaged in pharmacoepidemiological cancer research with an initial focus on gynecological cancers, and HPV related cancers.
Hargreave M, Mørch LS, Winther JF, Schmiegelow K, Kjaer SK. Association Between Maternal Hormonal Contraception Use and Central Nervous System Tumors in Children. JAMA. 2022 Jan 4;327(1):59-66
Lindquist S, Kjær SK, Albieri V, Frederiksen K, Hansen T, Nøhr B, Jensen A. Fertility drugs and incidence of thyroid cancer in a Danish nationwide cohort of 146 024 infertile women. Hum Reprod. 2022 Apr 1;37(4):838-847
Kjaer SK, Dehlendorff C, Belmonte F, Baandrup L. Real-World Effectiveness of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Against Cervical Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021 Oct 1;113(10):1329-1335
Verdoodt F, Dehlendorff C, Jäättelä M, Strauss R, Pottegard A, Hallas J, Friis S, Kjær SK: Antihistamines and ovarian cancer survival: nationwide cohort study and in vitro cell viability assay. J Natl Cancer Inst 2020;112(9):964-967
Olesen TB, Sand FL, Rasmussen CL, Albieri V, Toft BG, Norrild B, Munk C, Kjær SK: Prevalence of human papillomavirus DNA and p16(INK4a) in penile cancer and penile intraepithelial neoplasia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Oncol 2019;20(1):145-158
Wang Y, Li L, Douville C, Cohen JD, Yen TT, Kinde I, Sundfelt K, Kjær SK, Hruban RH, Shih IM, Wang TL, Kurman RJ, Springer S, Ptak J, Popoli M, Schaefer J, Silliman N, Dobbyn L, Tanner EJ, Angarita A, Lycke M, Jochumsen K, Afsari B, Danilova L, Levine DA, Jardon K, Zeng X, Arseneau J, Fu L, Diaz LA Jr., Karchin R, Tomasetti C, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Fader AN, Gilbert L, Papadopoulos N: Evaluation of liquid from the Papanicolaou test and other liquid biopsies for the detection of endometrial and ovarian cancers. Sci Transl Med 2018;10(433):eaap8793
Joura EA, Giuliano AR, Iversen OE, Bouchard C, Mao C, Mehlsen J, Moreira Jr. ED, Ngan Y, Petersen LK, Lazcano-Ponce E, Pitisuttithum P, Restrepo JA, Stuart G, Woelber L, Yang YC, Cuzick J, Garland SM, Huh W, Kjær SK, Bautista OM, Chan IS, Chen J, Gesser R, Moeller E, Ritter M, Vuocolo S, Luxembourg A: A 9-valent HPV vaccine against infection and intraepithelial neoplasia in women.
N Engl J Med. 2015 Feb 19;372(8):711-23
Group leader: Susanne Krüger Kjær
Susanne Krüger Kjær is a medical doctor and has since 1995 been head of a research unit in the Danish Cancer Society.
Since 2005, she has been a clinical professor in Cancer Epidemiology at Dept. of Gynaecology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, while still being head of Virus, Lifestyle and Genes.
In 2018, she became a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Her personal focus is bringing the research results out into the clinic and to train the next generation of researchers.
Susanne Krüger Kjær has been a member of several scientific councils such as the Danish Cancer Society Scientific Committee (KBVU), Rigshospitalet Research Council, Johannes Clemmesens research Fund, the Italian Association for Cancer Research, and member of the Board of trustees in the Lundbeck Foundation. Since the beginning of 2023, she has been the chair of the Research and Price Committee at the Lundbeck Foundation.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8347-1398
Key funding
Gangsted Foundation
Lundbeck Foundation
Erik and Susanna Olesens Foundation
Knæk Cancer - Danish Cancer Society
Danida
Mermaid Project Foundation