Research on autoimmune diseases

Our research activities aim to shed light on the causes of autoimmune diseases by the use of diverse research methods; sometimes by focusing on particular common autoimmune diseases (such as e.g. multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus), and sometimes in studies focusing on certain exposures (e.g. operations, pregnancies or vaccines) as possible causal factors involved in a multitude of autoimmune diseases. 

Highlighted Research Projects

Multiple Sclerosis: Occurrence, comorbidity and risk factors

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an invalidating immune-mediated disorder of the central nervous system, which typically begins in early adulthood. The etiology of MS is still not known, but environmental factors, together with genetic susceptibility is believed to have an important role.
In collaboration with the nation-wide MS registry SSI has carried out many register studies addressing MS epidemiology and comorbidity, including a study concerning the MS risk among immigrants in Denmark. The incidence of MS varies considerably world-wide and Denmark is a high incidence country, which could suggest that certain environmental factors in the Danish society might contribute to the etiology of MS. We have compared MS rates among first-generation immigrants in Denmark, and their Danish-born children (second-generation immigrants), to that among ethic Danes and to that in their country-of-origin, respectively, in order to evaluate the importance and timing of environmental exposures for the risk of MS.