Viktor H. Ahlqvist

Viktor H. Ahlqvist

Postdoctoral Researcher
Visiting address: Nobels väg 13, 17177 Solna
Postal address: C6 Institutet för miljömedicin, C6 Integrativ epidemiologi Fang, 171 77 Stockholm
Part of:

Research

  • At Karolinska Institutet, I lead research on the safety of medications in pregnancy, aiming to understand how they affect mothers, pregnancies, and children’s health. Examples include one of the world’s largest studies on paracetamol use in pregnancy, showing that it does not increase children’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. We have also spearheaded an international effort to assess the safety of antiseizure medications. This work is made possible by Sweden’s comprehensive national health registers and advanced methods in causal inference and computational statistics.

    At Aarhus University, my work focuses on statistical genetics and precision psychiatry. In particular, I study why people with neuropsychiatric conditions such as ADHD and autism face a higher risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and Parkinson’s disease, later in life. 

    My background is in epidemiology, statistics, and causal inference. Beyond my core research, I also contribute to studies on preschool health, cardiovascular disease, and the development of innovative research methods across disciplines.

Teaching

    • Teacher in Biostatistics I and Biostatistics II, Master's Programme in Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet.
    • Teacher in Statistics, General Practitioner Programme, Academic Primary Care Center - Region Stockholm.
    • Frequent guest lecturer in causal inference and statistics.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • DRUG-SAFE
    Swedish Society for Medical Research
    1 January 2026 - 1 January 2029
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2026 - 31 December 2029
    Migrant health, particularly reproductive health, is a growing public health priority. Pregnancy weight gain guidelines and neonatal growth references are widely used in clinical care to guide maternal and neonatal assessments. However, these guidelines and references are primarily based on data from non-migrant populations in high-income countries, and their relevance for migrant women and their children remains uncertain.This project will therefore examine the validity, clinical application, and patient perspectives of these guidelines and references in the context of migrant health. It comprises three work packages: 1) registry-based studies of over one million pregnancies to assess whether the predictive capacity of current guidelines and references for a wide range of adverse pregnancy and childhood outcomes varies across maternal birth regions
    2) mixed-methods studies to explore how healthcare professionals apply them in clinical practice
    and 3) qualitative studies to understand how pregnant women perceive them.The project builds on ongoing research and unique national registry data, and is led by a multidisciplinary team with strong expertise in migrant and reproductive health, including the main applicant, who has over 15 years of experience in maternal and infant health. The findings are expected to inform clinical guidelines and health policies, reduce reproductive health inequalities, and promote more equitable and individually adapted care.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2025 - 31 December 2029
    Children with autism are transitioning into adulthood. Emerging evidence suggests an increased risk of early-onset dementia among individuals with autism and a higher risk of any dementia among their family members. However, existing studies have primarily treated autism and dementia as binary variables, overlooking the fact that autism represents a continuum of symptoms, while dementia likely involves a prolonged neurodegenerative process leading to its onset.The overarching aim of this project is to utilize pre-existing cohorts with individual-level data on genotyping and various neurodegeneration markers to examine the relationship between genetic liability for autism and neurodegeneration. We will compare: 1) the risk of cognitive decline and its progression to dementia
    2) measures of brain aging
    and 3) the burden of known risk factors and antecedent conditions for dementia between individuals with high versus low genetic liability for autism. Additionally, we will conduct -omics analyses to investigate biological pathways for the link between autism and dementia.The large sample size, unique data access, cutting-edge analytical approaches, cross-country comparisons, and an experienced and dedicated research team underscore the scientific novelty and significance of this project. The findings from this research will have important implications for developing targeted interventions aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of dementia in the autistic population.

Employments

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 2026-2032
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-2026

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2024
  • Degree Of Master Of Medical Science 120 Credits, Karolinska Institutet, 2019

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