Karina Standahl Olsen
Stillingsbeskrivelse
Karina Standahl Olsen, MSc PhD, is an Associate professor in the Systems Epidemiology research group at the Faculty of Health Sciences, specializing in molecular epidemiology. She leads the UiT Core Facility for Biobanking, UiT's infrastructure for for long term storage, management, and distribution of human biological material collected through population studies and research projects.
With a background in molecular biology and a PhD in molecular epidemiology, her research focuses on blood gene expression, lifestyle, and diet, particularly in the context of cancer.
She has a diverse background in project and infrastructure management, supervising graduate and undergraduate students, teaching in several topics, as well course leadership of Hel-3060 Epidemiology 2, part of the Master in Public Health program.
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Forskningsinteresser
The research of Karina Standahl Olsen focuses on topics like
1) Breast cancer and molecular markers: investigating gene expression profiles and other markers in breast tissue and blood, and their association with breast cancer risk factors and outcomes.
2) Dietary factors and cancer: studying the impact of dietary patterns and nutrient intake on cancer development and progression, with a focus on breast cancer.
3) Blood biomarkers in cancer: analyzing circulating biomarkers and their relationship with various cancer types, including the role of inflammatory biomarkers in cancer risk.
4) Practical aspects of research on biobmarkers in cancer: collating sample collections for systems epidemiology and precision medicine, as well as biobanking practices.
5) Medication use and risk of cancer: modern methodological approaches combined with high-quality cohort and registry data, to address potenial impac of medication use on the risk of cancer (early phase project).
Publications are listed in the Cristin database.
Undervisning
Karina Standahl Olsen attained Basic pedagogical competence for teaching in higher education (2016) and have taught at all levels from bachelor’s to PhD, thematically covering cancer, epidemiology, biobanking, nutrition, genomics technology, genetics, and molecular biology. She is the course leader for Hel-3060 Epidemiology 2 (part of the Master’s Degree in Public health, UiT), from 2021-present.
Olsen has been a main or co-supervisor for several bachelor and master students, as well as 9 Phd students.
From 2021 onwards, she has been a member of committees for organizing pedagogical staff development activities in the Teaching unit of epidemiology and biostatistics, ISM, UiT, and has acted as a mentor for colleagues taking the course Basic pedagogical competence for teaching in higher education. Current interests include digital teaching (The European University Alliance for Global Health (EUGLOH) funded project), open teaching resources, and the use of AI tools in teaching.
Medlem i forskningsgruppe
Medlem i prosjekt
CV
CURRENT POSITION
2016-present: Associate professor
Functions:
Head of the Core facility for Biobanking, The Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT
Research
Teaching
EDUCATION
2016: Basic pedagogical competence for higher education, UiT
2013: PhD in molecular epidemiology. Thesis title: “Blood gene expression, lifestyle and diet - the Norwegian Women and Cancer Post-genome Cohort”. Department of Community Medicine (ISM), UiT
2005: Master of Science, Cell- and molecular biology. Dpt. of Laboratory Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2016-17: Temporary: associate professor, ISM, UiT (Head of the Core facility for biobanking, researcher)
2014-16: Post. Doc, Norwegian Women and Cancer study, ISM, UiT *
2013-14: Researcher, ISM, UiT
2006-13: PhD student, ISM, UiT **
2006: Staff engineer, Genomics core facility, NTNU
*The post.doc. position was shortened due to entering the temporary assoc. prof. position
**The PhD position was prolonged due to career breaks
COMMISIONS OF TRUST (selection)
2022-2023: Member of UiT working group for evaluating the national roadmap for research, topic food and health
2022-present: Member of extended steering group for Dept. of Community Medicine, UiT
2022-23: Member of Steering group, the Norwegian Women and Cancer study, UiT
2022-present: Member of Biomarker working group, The Tromsø Study, UiT
2021- present: Member of Program Board for the Master’s Degree in Public Health, UiT
2020-present: Member of Steering group for University Hospital of North Norway Research Biobank
2020-present: Member of Breast Cancer Working Group and Biomarkers Working Group, European Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer (EPIC)
2016-present: Partner representative for UiT, Biobank Norway Consortium researcher network