I am a third-year PhD student visiting from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. My background is in Psychology and genetic epidemiology with interests in how body size connects to mood-related traits, psychiatric heterogeneity and time-sensitive effects.
The project for my International Alliance for PharmacoGenetic Epidemiology Excellence (iAPOGEE) Visiting Fellowship placement will be separate from my PhD project and will be in collaboration with Pharmasafe at the Pharmacy department of the University of Oslo, and with the PsychGen centre at the Folkehelseinstituttet. My project will assess causal evidence for effects of paracetamol use during pregnancy on a range of neurodevelopmental outcomes. We will assess the plausibility of alternative explanations for associations between paracetamol and our outcomes including effects due to related medical conditions of which analgesics may be used for, and genetic effects—incorporating both sibling and polygenic score analyses. This research comes in the light of speculative claims made in the media and by the Trump administration indicating a causal link. We aim to provide clearer evidence to inform safety guidance to mothers, especially considering the potential harms of untreated pain or fever during pregnancy.