Thomas Munk Laursen

Research

My main area of research is to examine risk factors for psychiatric disorders and subsequent outcome after onset of psychiatric disorders. At present, I am studying:

• Mortality in psychiatric disorders
• Somatic comorbidity in persons with severe mental disorders and the impact on mortality
• Sub-optimal health care for people with psychiatric disorders
• Genetics; How does it interact with psychiatric disorder?
• Dementia: risk factors and outcome
• How does psychiatric disorder in the parents affect the children?
• Reproductive events in persons with psychiatric disorders
• Homelessness and psychiatric disorders

Profile

I am a Full Professor at the National Centre for Register-Based Research at Aarhus University, Denmark, where my work focuses on the epidemiology of mental disorders. I specialize in using large‑scale Danish population registries to uncover patterns, risks, and long‑term outcomes related to psychiatric conditions.

Over the years, I have led numerous independent research projects, supervised more than 20 PhD students, and contributed as a consultant on many other initiatives. My scientific output includes more than 20 first‑author publications and over 200 co‑authored papers in leading peer‑reviewed journals. Collaboration is central to my work, and I have built a broad international network within register‑based and psychiatric epidemiology research.

I also serve as an ad hoc peer reviewer for several high‑impact journals, including NEJM, JAMA, and The Lancet, and I am a member of the evaluation committee of the Norwegian Research Council, where I help assess and support research initiatives of national importance.

Job responsibilities

My primary responsibility is research, which involves designing and conducting scientific work, analyzing data, writing research papers, and presenting findings at conferences. I work closely with colleagues and external partners to advance our understanding in the field of psychiatric epidemiology and contribute to new discoveries.