Bilde av Sandanger, Torkjel M
Bilde av Sandanger, Torkjel M
Head of department/Professor Department of Community Medicine torkjel.sandanger@uit.no +4777645404 You can find me here

Torkjel M Sandanger


Job description

I am currently the head of the department and have been functioning in this four year term position since the first of january 2022. As the head of the department I focus on communication within the department, supporting all efforts to strenghten reserach and teaching activities at the department. I alos emphasise reserach communication and the fact that we should be a preferred partner when developing public health policies. I am proud to be the head of a department with novel and relevant reserach, education and dissemination. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about our department.


  • Justina Ucheojor Onwuka, Florence Guida, Ryan Langdon, Mikael Johansson, Gianluca Severi, Roger L. Milne et al.:
    Blood-based DNA methylation markers for lung cancer prediction
    BMJ Oncology 2024 DOI
  • Komodo Matta, Vivian Viallon, Edoardo Botteri, Giulia Peveri, Christina Dahm, Anne Østergaard Nannsen et al.:
    Healthy lifestyle change and all-cause and cancer mortality in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort
    BMC Medicine 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lackson Kashobwe, Faezeh Sadrabadi, Lars Brunken, Ana Carolina Miranda Fernandes Coelho, Torkjel Manning Sandanger, Albert Braeuning et al.:
    Legacy and alternative per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alter the lipid profile of HepaRG cells
    Toxicology 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Vivian Viallon, Heinz Freisling, Komodo Matta, Anne Østergaard Nannsen, Christina C. Dahm, Anne Tjønneland et al.:
    On the use of the healthy lifestyle index to investigate specific disease outcomes
    Scientific Reports 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Kristine Moksnes Bratland, Charlotte Wien, Torkjel Manning Sandanger :
    Exploring Online Health Information Seeking Behaviour (OHISB) among young adults: A scoping review protocol
    BMJ Open 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Anna Nalbandyan-Schwarz, Kristine Bondo Pedersen, Anita Evenset, Eldbjørg Sofie Heimstad, Torkjel Manning Sandanger, Päivi Myllynen et al.:
    Combined Contaminant Levels from Local Harvested Food Items in the Norwegian–Finnish–Russian Border Region
    Resources 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lara Cioni, Vladimir Nikiforov, Jonathan P. Benskin, Ana Carolina Coelho, Silvia Dudášová, Melanie Lauria et al.:
    Combining Advanced Analytical Methodologies to Uncover Suspect PFAS and Fluorinated Pharmaceutical Contributions to Extractable Organic Fluorine in Human Serum (Tromsø Study)
    Environmental Science and Technology 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Ilona Halva Urbarova, Anne Heidi Skogholt, Yi-Qian Sun, Xiao-Mei Mai, Bjørn Henning Grønberg, Torkjel Manning Sandanger et al.:
    Increased expression of individual genes in whole blood is associated with late-stage lung cancer at and close to diagnosis
    Scientific Reports 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lara Cioni, Merle Plassmann, Jonathan P. Benskin, Ana Carolina Coelho, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Karin Charlotta Maria Rylander et al.:
    Fluorine Mass Balance, including Total Fluorine, Extractable Organic Fluorine, Oxidizable Precursors, and Target Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, in Pooled Human Serum from the Tromsø Population in 1986, 2007, and 2015
    Environmental Science and Technology 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lola Neufcourt, Raphaele Castagne, Tom Wilsgaard, Anne Sameline Grimsgaard, Marc Chadeau-Hyam, Dragana Vuckovic et al.:
    Educational patterning in biological health seven years apart: Findings from the Tromsø Study
    Psychoneuroendocrinology 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Dolley Charles, Vivian Berg, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Tom Wilsgaard, Ingvar A. Bergdahl, Sandra Huber et al.:
    Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in type 2 diabetes mellitus cases and controls: Repeated measurements prior to and after diagnosis
    International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Ziling Mao, Jacqueline Roshelli Baker, Masayoshi Takeuchi, Hideyuki Hyogo, Anne Tjønneland, Anne Kirstine Eriksen et al.:
    Prediagnostic serum glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end products and mortality among colorectal cancer patients
    International Journal of Cancer 2023 DOI
  • Ana Carolina Miranda Fernandes Coelho, Lara Cioni, Wendy van Dreunen, Vivian Berg, Karin Charlotta Maria Rylander, Ilona Halva Urbarova et al.:
    Legacy perfluoroalkyl acids and their oxidizable precursors in plasma samples of Norwegian women
    Environment International 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • S.G. Yammine, I. Huybrechts, C. Biessy, L. Dossus, S. Panico, M.J. Sánchez et al.:
    Dietary fatty acids and endometrial cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
    BMC Cancer 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Joseph A. Rothwell, Jelena Bešević, Niki Dimou, Marie Breeur, Neil Murphy, Mazda Jenab et al.:
    Circulating amino acid levels and colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and UK Biobank cohorts
    BMC Medicine 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Sairah Lai Fa Chen, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Edoardo Botteri, Pietro Ferrari, Tonje Braaten, Torkjel M Sandanger et al.:
    Overall lifestyle changes in adulthood are associated with cancer incidence in the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study (NOWAC) - a prospective cohort study
    BMC Public Health 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Ashley Ahimbisibwe, Morten Valberg, Adele C. Green, Reza Ghiasvand, Corina Silvia Rüegg, Raju Rimal et al.:
    Nevus Count, Pigmentary Characteristics, and Melanoma-specific Mortality among Norwegian Women with Melanoma >1.0 mm Thick
    Acta Dermato-Venereologica 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Nikita Baiju, Karin Charlotta Maria Rylander, Pål Sætrom, Torkjel M Sandanger, Therese Haugdahl Nøst :
    Associations of gene expression in blood with BMI and weight changes among women in the Norwegian Women and Cancer postgenome cohort
    Obesity 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Dolley Charles, Vivian Berg, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Ingvar A. Bergdahl, Sandra Huber, Pierre Ayotte et al.:
    Longitudinal changes in concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (1986–2016) and their associations with type 2 diabetes mellitus
    Environmental Research 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Trasias Mukama, Renée Turzanski Fortner, Verena Katzke, Lucas Cory Hynes, Agnese Petrera, Stefanie M. Hauck et al.:
    Prospective evaluation of 92 serum protein biomarkers for early detection of ovarian cancer
    British Journal of Cancer 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Erik Eik Anda, Tonje Bjørndal Braaten, Kristin Benjaminsen Borch, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Sairah Lai Fa Chen, Marko Lukic et al.:
    Seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the adult population during the pre-vaccination period, Norway, winter 2020/21
    Eurosurveillance 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Roland Wedekind, Joseph A. Rothwell, Vivian Viallon, Pekka Keski-Rahkonen, Julie A. Schmidt, Veronique Chajes et al.:
    Determinants of blood acylcarnitine concentrations in healthy individuals of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
    Clinical Nutrition 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Dusan Petrovic, Barbara Bodinier, Sonia Dagnino, Matthew Whitaker, Maryam Karimi, Gianluca Campanella et al.:
    Epigenetic mechanisms of lung carcinogenesis involve differentially methylated CpG sites beyond those associated with smoking
    European Journal of Epidemiology (EJE) 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Wendy Yi-Ying Wu, Zahra Haider, Xiaoshuang Feng, Alicia K. Heath, Anne Tjønneland, Antonio Agudo et al.:
    Assessment of the EarlyCDT-Lung test as an early biomarker of lung cancer in ever-smokers: A retrospective nested case-control study in two prospective cohorts
    International Journal of Cancer 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Alessandra Allione, Clara Viberti, Ilaria Cotellessa, Chiara Catalano, Elisabetta Casalone, Giovanni Cugliari et al.:
    Blood cell DNA methylation biomarkers in preclinical malignant pleural mesothelioma: The EPIC prospective cohort
    International Journal of Cancer 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Anne Heidi Skogholt, Ilona Halva Urbarova, Robin Mjelle, Erna-Elise Paulsen, Tom Dønnem et al.:
    Increased levels of microRNA-320 in blood serum and plasma is associated with imminent and advanced lung cancer
    Molecular Oncology 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Reynalda Córdova, Ana-Lucia Mayén, Viktoria Knaze, Elom Kouassivi Aglago, Casper Schalkwijk, Karl-Heinz Wagner et al.:
    Dietary intake of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and cancer risk across more than 20 anatomical sites: A multinational cohort study
    Cancer Communications 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lara Cioni, Vladimir Nikiforov, Ana Carolina Miranda Fernandes Coelho, Torkjel M Sandanger, Dorte Herzke :
    Total oxidizable precursors assay for PFAS in human serum
    Environment International 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Abhik Ghosh, Erica Ponzi, Torkjel M Sandanger, Magne Thoresen :
    Robust sure independence screening for nonpolynomial dimensional generalized linear models
    Scandinavian Journal of Statistics 13. December 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Natassia Robinson, John Casement, Marc J. Gunter, Inge Huybrechts, Antonio Agudo, Miguel Rodríguez Barranco et al.:
    Anti-cancer therapy is associated with long-term epigenomic changes in childhood cancer survivors
    British Journal of Cancer 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Alicia K. Heath, David C. Muller, Piet A. van den Brandt, Elena Critselis, Marc Gunter, Paolo Vineis et al.:
    Diet-wide association study of 92 foods and nutrients and lung cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study and the Netherlands Cohort Study
    International Journal of Cancer 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Edoardo Botteri, Giulia Peveri, Paula Berstad, Vincenzo Bagnardi, Sairah Lai Fa Chen, Torkjel M Sandanger et al.:
    Changes in Lifestyle and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition
    American Journal of Gastroenterology 2022 DOI
  • Karl Smith-Byrne, Agustin Cerani, Florence Guida, Sirui Zhou, Antonio Agudo, Krasimira Aleksandrova et al.:
    Circulating Isovalerylcarnitine and Lung Cancer Risk: Evidence from Mendelian Randomization and Prediagnostic Blood Measurements
    Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Flavie Perrier, Reza Ghiasvand, Simon Lergenmuller, Trude Eid Robsahm, Adele C. Green, Kristin Benjaminsen Borch et al.:
    Life-Course Trajectories of Physical Activity and Melanoma Risk in a Large Cohort of Norwegian Women
    Clinical Epidemiology 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Marie Breeur, Pietro Ferrari, Laure Dossus, Mazda Jenab, Mattias Johansson, Sabina Rinaldi et al.:
    Pan-cancer analysis of pre-diagnostic blood metabolite concentrations in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
    BMC Medicine 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Christian Magnus Page, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Vera Djordjilović, Magne Thoresen, Arnoldo Frigessi, Torkjel M Sandanger et al.:
    Pre-diagnostic DNA methylation in blood leucocytes in cutaneous melanoma; a nested case–control study within the Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort
    Scientific Reports 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Vivian Berg, Dolley Charles, Ingvar A. Bergdahl, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Torkjel M Sandanger, Andreas Tornevi et al.:
    Pre- and post-diagnostic blood profiles of chlorinated persistent organic pollutants and metabolic markers in type 2 diabetes mellitus cases and controls; a pilot study
    Environmental Research 09. February 2021 ARKIV / DOI
  • Lara Cioni, Vladimir Nikiforov, Jonathan P. Benskin, Ana Carolina Coelho, Melanie Lauria, Silvia Dudášová et al.:
    Combining Advanced Analytical Methodologies to Describe Extractable Organic Fluorine in Human Serum
    2024
  • Kristine Moksnes Bratland, Linda Stein, Torkjel Manning Sandanger, Charlotte Wien :
    Research Protocol: Young adults’ assessment of finding and judging health information. The Fit Futures 1 Study and The Fit Futures 3 Study.
    ResearchGate 2024 DOI
  • Lara Cioni, Dorte Herzke, Torkjel Manning Sandanger :
    Human Exposure to PFAS and Other Anthropogenic Organofluorine Chemicals in Tromsø between 1986 and 2015
    2023 FULLTEKST
  • Kristine Moksnes Bratland, Charlotte Wien, Linda Maria Stein, Torkjel Manning Sandanger :
    Unge voksnes vurdering av utfordringer ved å finne og vurdere helseinformasjon. Fit Futures 1 og 3.
    2023
  • Lara Cioni, Merle Plassmann, Jonathan Benskin, Ana Carolina Coelho, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Karin Charlotta Maria Rylander et al.:
    Fluorine Mass-balance in Pooled Serum Samples from Northern Norwegian Men and Women Between 1986 and 2015
    2023
  • Kristine M. Bratland, Charlotte Wien, Torkjel Manning Sandanger :
    Fra brudd(stykker) til helhet: Scoping review i interdisiplinær forskning.
    2023
  • Kristine M. Bratland, Charlotte Wien, Torkjel Manning Sandanger :
    (A)In need for an advice? Young adults and Online Health Information Seeking Behavior (OHIS) 2017 – 2023.
    2023
  • Bente Evjen Schøning, Charlotte Wien, Torkjel Manning Sandanger, Sarah Ellen Rosenbaum :
    Forskningskommunikasjon - massevis av motivasjon men mangel på tid og opplæring
    2023
  • Oluf Dimitri Røe, I Fotopoulos, Olav Toai Duc Nguyen, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, M Markaki, Vincenzo Lagani et al.:
    Common MicroRNAs in Pre-diagnostic Serum Associated with Lung Cancer in Two Cohorts up to Eight Years Before Diagnosis: A HUNT Study
    Journal of Thoracic Oncology 2022 DOI
  • Kristine M. Bratland, Charlotte Wien, Torkjel M Sandanger :
    Strategic Information Dissemination in the age of infodemic: Factors which influence young adults’ online health information seeking behaviour (OHIS).
    2022
  • Charlotte Wien, Torkjel M Sandanger :
    Strategic Information Dissemination in the age of infodemic: Factors which influence young adults’ online health information seeking behaviour (OHIS).
    2022
  • Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Ilona Halva Urbarova, Anne Heidi Skogholt, Robin Mjelle, Erna Elise Paulsen, Tom Dønnem et al.:
    Increased levels of mRNAs and miRNAs associated with imminent and advanced lung cancer
    2022
  • Inger Njølstad, Kristin Benjaminsen Borch, Ann Ragnhild Broderstad, Sameline Grimsgaard, Torkjel M Sandanger, Tom Wilsgaard :
    Healthy Choices and the Social Gradient
    2021

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    Research interests

    Currently I am focusing on the use of different  “omics” to better study the effects of environmental stressors, as a link between exposure and health endpoints. Right now we are in the preparation of a paper on smoking and DNA methylation in two European Cohorts. We are also planning to combine gene expression data and DNA methylation data in order to improve our understanding of the observed effects and the possible biological understanding.

    Before this my research focus the last 10 years has been on environmental contaminants and human health. Through my research I have been trying to merge environmental chemistry and epidemiology, where my students have been involved both in the laboratory and the statistical analysis.

    Cross sectional and prospective designs have been utilised at both the smaller community based surveys and larger national as well as international populations based investigations.

    Through this unique combination of research fields I have considerable insight into the chemistry of molecules and how contaminants potentially influence human health and at the same time keeping the public health perspective as an important and even essential part of the projects.

    My major scientific contribution has been the development and combination of environmental chemistry and human epidemiology into new fields of research that more easily integrates the environmental exposure (both short term and long term) component in larger epidemiological studies. When including “omics” in these projects we are more likely to be able to study causality and not only associations in studies of risk factors and human health. Through the close collaboration with colleagues at the department we have also included the nutritional aspect in studies on diet and contaminants. This has been especially important in our projects on benefits and disadvantages with seafood.