PhD fellow Anja Linde defended her doctoral thesis
Dr. Anja Linde defended her thesis on: Cardiovascular organ damage in patients with psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis: associations with hypertension, obesity and disease modifying treatment 14.02.25. Professor Renata Cifkova from Charles I University, Prague, Czech Republic served as first opponent, and professor Tillmann Uhlig, University of Oslo as second opponent. The scientific evaluation committee was chaired by professor Jutta Dierkes from UiB
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The research has been performed at Center for Research on Cardiac Disease in Women at UiB with associate professor Helga Midtbø as main supervisor and professor Eva Gerdts as co-supervisor during the years 2021-24.
She received a PhD scholarship from the National Research Center for Women’s Health in Oslo. The public defence became an interesting discussion between the candidate and the opponents, all supervised by professor emeritus Roland Jonsson as custos.
Key in the thesis was that both modern immunomodulating therapy and good management of traditional cardiovascular risk factors are important to preserve good cardiovascular health in patients with psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, since higher inflammation, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure were all associated with presence of early signs of cardiovascular disease, often referred to as organ damage.