Esben Agerbo

Professor Director Preben Bo Mortensen appointed me as Head of Research in 2015, making me a member of the NCRR management. My research areas include polygenetics, causal inference, survival analysis, and register-based research. I focus on epidemiology and applied methods, specializing in the genetic, environmental, and epidemiological determinants of health and social behavior.

I have a background in mathematical statistics and economics and hold a Doctor Medicinae (D.M.Sc.) in epidemiology.

My work focuses on psychiatric and genetic epidemiology, with a particular emphasis on register-based research, statistical methodology, and the study of mental disorders and related health outcomes. I work with large population-based datasets to investigate causes, risk factors, familial patterns, prediction, and disease trajectories. A central part of my research concerns the integration of epidemiological and genetic data, including questions related to heritability, polygenic risk, selection bias, absolute risk, and the development and evaluation of statistical methods for complex longitudinal data.