SINTEF Health Research Annual Report 2006 SINTEF Health Research: Departments This Is SINTEF Health Research
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SINTEF Health Research Annual Report 2006 SINTEF Health Research: Departments http://www.sintef.com/health This is SINTEF Health Research With its 137 employees, SINTEF Health Research is cision-making. SINTEF is Norway's largest centre of one of the largest centres of health research in Nor- research in this field. way. Our strength lies in our broadly based and We operate the secretariat of the Competence Net- Executive Vice President solid understanding of health sciences and re- Vice President Research work for Hospital Planning and help to develop and search methods, and in our ability to analyse and evaluate new hospital projects. solve problems in an integrated manner. With this as our basis, our efforts are dedicated to improving SINTEF publishes the annual SAMDATA reports, everyone’s health and quality of life. which present steering data, comparative statistics and analyses of the specialist health service in ge- Staff SINTEF Health Research has four strategic areas neral and psychiatric health care. The reports illu- of concentration: medical technology, health servi- strate how well our health institutions are ces research, preventive health care and internati- functioning with respect to the main objectives of onal activity. national health policy, and provide a basis for im- Medical technology provements in governance, planning, evaluation Economics, Quality Standard of Living SINTEF is an international leading-edge research and research. Medical Technology Work Physiology and Accessibility and Services centre in the field of ultrasound-guided surgery. We Preventive health care collaborate closely in this field with the Department SINTEF wishes to help to realise the important so- of Surgery at St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim and cial benefits of preventive health care. Our contract the Faculty of Medicine at NTNU. We are heavily in- research projects and competence building in mi- volved in the development of “the operating thea- crobiology and HPV infections have given us a cen- Microbiology Epidemiology Mental Health Hospital Planning tre of the future”, where we are also concerned with tral place in Norwegian research on infectious the development of remote communication bet- diseases. We intend to increase the utilisation of ween the operating surgeon and external experts. data from the Norwegian Patient Register in net- Our innovative milieu acts as a consultant and dri- work-based research for clinical groups in this ving force for industrial development in the health country, HUNT and general practice. sector, where we function as coordinator between Medical Technology Economics, Quality and Accessibility Epidemiology SINTEF participates in international research coo- research, industry and public-sector stimulation Develops new technology which offers patients We utilise research and surveys to evaluate We manage and carry out large-scale patient- peration on the use of nanotechnology in the deve- measures. more certain diagnoses and better treatment. the health services in the fields of organisa- based research projects aimed at mapping lopment of “SmartWear”; i.e. “intelligent” textiles and On the basis of health sector requirements, tion, resource utilisation, quality and the the extent and causes of disease. We also SINTEF administers the clinical evaluation of phar- “smart” clothing. We are developing clothing that is we also help to create new industry. Our public’s use of these services. The depart- evaluate new diagnostic and treatment maceutical products and medical technology in se- capable of monitoring patients’ physiological and strength is our knowledge of user-oriented ment is multidisciplinary, and can point to measures. The department acts as a builder veral Norwegian hospitals.. medical condition, as well as work clothing for sur- product development and close contact with competence in economics, sociology and of bridges between different national geons and protective suits for firemen. both the health sector and industry. political science registers of illness in various clinical Health services research environments. We also run a clinical research For several years, SINTEF has been an important International activity Work Physiology Standard of Living and Services centre consultant to the national health services authori- SINTEF Health Research is involved in a wide range Develops technology and solutions which Disability and rehabilitation are our most ties. We supply research-based knowledge that of international cooperative programmes, both improve health, safety and performance. important fields of activity, in which user invol- Mental Health ranges from analyses of health economics and the through the EU’s Framework Programmes and other We contribute to innovation in the health vement is a central element. We also carry out This is the largest research group in Norway distribution and use of health services to the de- scientific networks in Europe, the USA and Africa. velopment and analysis of indicators of medical sector and industry via multidisciplinary research and development projects in Africa in dedicated to mental health. Our multidiscipli- Through its long-term strategic cooperative pro- practice and quality, not to mention models for approaches, user-focused product develop- this area in the form of national standard of nary research group does research on acute gramme with organisations for the disabled, SIN- planning and operating health institutions. ment and professional project management. living studies, rehabilitation projects and psychiatry, rural psychiatric centres, local TEF carries of studies of the standard of living in a All of our activity is based on research, and evaluations of other institutions’ development government health services and health SINTEF participates actively in national and inter- number of southern African countries. These stu- relies on our competence in physiology, aid projects. Another area of activity is hospital services for drug abusers. national research and development cooperation dies have provided us with important data which medical technology, design and product organisation and management that will make society more capable of meeting the local authorities can use to develop measures on development. Our top-level expertise on the Hospital Planning health and care needs of a rapidly growing propor- behalf of disabled persons in their own countries. effectsof heat and cold on the human body is Microbiology We offer a wide range of consulting activities tion of older people in the population. We have de- In collaboration with national universities, SINTEF internationally recognised. Infections of environmental origin are a signi- in hospital planning, with special expertise in veloped unique methods of analysing future needs is also helping to build up local competence in the ficant problem for society. Our most important the early phase of planning activities. for health and hospital services. field of standards of living research. We are cur- task is to develop knowledge and diagnostic rently broadening our range of cooperation bet- The Mental Health Upgrading Plan has increased tools for monitoring and preventing such in- ween SINTEF and health research groups in the the need for research-based knowledge that can be fections. region. used as a basis for political and administrative de- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 http://www.sintef.com/health 9 Tonje Hamar Group Director SINTEF Health Research 10 Better health from multidisciplinary research 11 Cooperation makes us stronger, so we have set These examples help to illustrate the breadth 12 ourselves the goal of winning more projects of our research and underline the importance from industrial partners, and of making the of our role as an objective supplier of know- best use of the multidisciplinary approach of ledge. In 2006, we also strengthened our posi- 13 the research that we carry out. tion as an international research centre. We are cooperating in projects with partners in Asia, 14 2006 was a demanding year for SINTEF Health America, Africa and Europe, while we have also Research, but it was also a year in which we mobilised considerable resources vis-à-vis the managed to realise many of our long-term 15 EU’s 7th Framework Programme. aims. And we managed this by working toget- her, as can be seen, for example, by taking a Two of our departments; the Norwegian Patient 16 glance at our list of projects. Register and Patient Classification and Finan- cing, left SINTEF Health Research in 2006 to Never before have we had so many exciting re- 17 become part of the Directorate for Health and search topics which have so clearly illustrated Social Affairs via a transfer of activities. This the strength of our multidisciplinary approach. 18 was a demanding process from which we emer- One example is our research on chronic ob- ged stronger than ever. However, we have also structive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a few 19 had the pleasure of welcoming new members years, this disease of the lungs will be the third of staff, a process that brings not only growth most important cause of death in the world. but also new ways of thinking. 20 Taking three different approaches to one and the same disease, our scientists aim to find out We are also very proud of our senior staff. We 21 more about this group of patients. have several productive researchers who re- ached the age of retirement long ago. It is also In 2006, we also achieved our ambition of be- a great privilege to be able to recruit a mana- 22 coming an attractive research partner for the ger who has the experience that only a 60- medical technology industry, as navigation wit- year-old can possess. 23 hin the body became an export product. In this way, we profile our vision and operate at the li- Diversity and restructuring have been the hall- 24 mits of the possible. marks of SINTEF Health Research in 2006, and we are a robust and well-integrated research SINTEF Health Research has had the respon- unit. In my eyes, mutual respect is the most 25 sibility for developing and leading a network prominent characteristic of our milieu.