This year’s theme, “Nordic Pharmacoepidemiology in a Global Setting," brought together researchers and collaborators across the Nordics to discuss cutting-edge methods, data models, and real-world evidence across the Nordic countries. The meeting showcased how world-class Nordic registry data and collaborative methods are shaping insights with international relevance.
Hedvig Nordeng contributed an oral presentation titled “Identification of pregnancies in real-world data: head-to-head comparison of three algorithms.” Her talk sparked discussion about the strengths and trade-offs of different approaches to identifying pregnancy episodes across real-world datasets, a foundational challenge for medication safety studies in maternal and child health. Hedvig also presented a poster, “Impact of Follow-Up Time on the Identification of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Norwegian Children in Real-World Registry Data,” highlighting how methodological choices around follow-up windows can influence case identification and downstream inferences in pediatric neurodevelopmental research.
We were especially proud to celebrate our PhD student, Alexis Carson, who presented the poster “Antenatal antidepressant use and subsequent offspring type 1 diabetes in Norway and Sweden.” Alexis won the Posterslam award, an exciting recognition of both the clinical and methodological relevance of her work. Her project also reflects the strength of our collaborative network: Carolyn Cesta (Assistant Professor, Karolinska Institutet), who is a collaborator on Alexis' project and spoke during the conference. We were also happy to see another close collaborator featured: Jacqueline Cohen (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), with the multinational study “Prenatal exposure to ADHD medication and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.”
Beyond our group’s presentations, the program offered a mix of sessions that underscored NorPEN’s unique role at the intersection of data, methods, and policy. Topics included pharmacovigilance and common data models, a key enabler for harmonized, multinational pharmacoepidemiological research. The conference reaffirmed why Nordic pharmacoepidemiology holds such a prominent position internationally: unparalleled registries, rigorous methodology, and a culture of collaboration. We’re grateful to NorPEN and Uppsala University for hosting an inspiring meeting and proud of our team’s contributions.