Researchers´ Profiles - Anders Koch

Anders Koch is a senior researcher at the Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. He graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1991 and has since 1994 carried out epidemiological studies in Greenland. He obtained his PhD thesis in 2001 and has since then been leader of the Department’s Section for Greenland Research. Clinically, he has trained in internal medicine, surgery, otorhinlaryngology, and family medicine.

Anders Koch’s main research interest is the epidemiology of infectious diseases. He has carried out and supervised both clinical, seroepidemiological, and register-based studies in Greenland of a number of infectious diseases besides asthma, allergy, and cancer. His PhD thesis from 2001 concerned frequency and risk factors for respiratory tract infections in young children in Sisimiut, West Greenland. He has supervised a number of PhD students working on infectious disease-related epidemiological projects in Greenland.

Anders Koch is a member of the board and webmaster of the Danish/Greenlandic Society for Circumpolar Health and the International Circumpolar Surveillance System that monitors invasive bacterial diseases in the Arctic.

Finally, Anders Koch has also carried out epidemiological studies in Denmark and drafted the National Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan for the Danish Board of Health (2005).

Selected publications:

• Koch, A & Felbo, M. Thulekulturens grave [In Danish: Graves of the Thule Culture]. Tusaat – Forskning i Grønland, 1994; 1-2; 35-45.
   
• Koch, A. Frøhlich, B. Lynnerup, N. & Hart Hansen, J.P. The Bones from Qeqertassussuk – The Earliest Human Remains from Greenland. In: Grønnov, B. (ed.). The Paleo-eskimo Cultures of Greenland – New Perspectives in Greenlandic Archaeology; 1996; Danish Polar Center Publication No. 1; 35-38.
   
• Koch, A. Biological Aspects of Eskimo Thule Cultures in east Greenland. In: Grønnov, B. (ed.). The Paleo-eskimo Cultures of Greenland – New Perspectives in Greenlandic Archaeology; 1996; Danish Polar Center Publication No. 1; 35-38.
   
• Homøe, P. Madsen, H.O. Sandvej, K. Koch, A. & Garred, P. Lack of Association Between Mannose-binding Lectin, Acute Otitis Media and Early Epstein-Barr Virus Infection Among Children in Greenland. Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1999; 31; 363-6.
   
• Olsen, O.R. Koch, A. Krause, T.G. Barselajsen, G. Christiansen, C.B. & Melbye, M. Befolkningsscreening for HIV i Sisimiut [In Danish: Population screening for HIV in Sisimiut]. Ugeskrift for Læger, 2000; 35; 4652-5.
   
• Tamsmark, T.H. Koch, A. Melbye, M. & Mølbak, K. Incidence and predictors of atopic dermatitis in an open birth cohort in Sisimiut, Greenland. Acta Pædiatrica, 2001; 90; 982-88.
   
• Koch, A. Melbye, M. Sørensen, P. Homøe, P. Madsen, H.O. Mølbak, K. Hansen, C.H. Andersen, L.H. Hahn, G.W. & Garred, P. Acute respiratory Infections and mannose-binding Lectin Insufficiency During Early Childhood. 2001. JAMA, 2001; 285; 1316-21 (+ editorial pp. 1348-9).
   
• Krause, T.G. Koch, A. Poulsen, L.K. Kristensen, B. Olsen, O.R. & Melbye, M. Atopic Sensitization among Children in an Arctic Environment. Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 2002; 32; 367-72.
   
• Koch, A. Sørensen, P. Homøe, P. Mølbak, K. Pedersen, F.K. Mortensen, T.H. Elberling, H. Eriksen, A.M. Olsen, O.R. & Melbye, M. A Population-based Study of Acute Respiratory Infections in Greenlandic Children: Incidence, Prevalence and Disease Burden. 2001. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2002; 8; 586-93.
   
•  Krause, T. Koch, A. Friborg, J. Poulsen, L.K. Kristensen, B. & Melbye, M. Frequency of atopy in the Arctic in 1987 and 1998. Lancet, 2002; 360; 691.
   
• Krause, T. Hviid, A. Koch, A. Friborg, J. Hjuler, T. Wohlfahrt, J. Olsen, O.R. Kristensen, B. & Melbye, M. BCG Vaccination and Risk of Atopy. JAMA, 2003; 289; 1012-5.
   
• Hansen, C.H. Koch, A. Wohlfahrt, J. & Melbye, M. A population-based register study of vaccine coverage among children in Greenland. Vaccine, 2003; 21; 1704-09.
   
• Koch, A. Mølbak, K. Homøe, P. Sørensen, P. Hjuler, T. Olesen, M.E. Pejl, J. Pedersen, F.K. Olsen, O.R. & Melbye, M. Risk factors for Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Young Greenlandic Children. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2003; 158; 374-84.
   
• Koch, A. The Inuit population of Greenland re-evaluated. In: Frohlich, B. Harper, A.B. & Gilberg, R. (eds). To the Aleutians and beyond, 2003; Publications of the National Museum - Ethnographical Series, The National Museum of Denmark; 20; 193-205.
   
• Friborg, J. Koch, A. Wohlfahrt, J. Storm, H. & Melbye, M. Cancer in Greenland – A Cohort Study. International Journal of Cancer, 2003; 107; 1017-22.
   
• Lynnerup, N. Meldgaard, J. Jakobsen, J. Appelt, M. Koch, A. & Frøhlich, B. Human Dorset remains from Igloolik, Canada. Arctic, 2003; 56; 349-58.
   
• Friborg, J. Koch, A. Stenz, F. Wohlfahrt, J. & Melbye, M. Infant Mortality in the Arctic – a Population Based Register Study. Am J Public Health, 2004; 94; 452-7.
   
• Krause, T. Pedersen, B.V. Francis, S. Koch, A. Backer, V. & Melbye, M. Lung Function in Greenlandic and Danish Children and Adolescents. Respiratory Medicine, 2005; 99: 363-71.
   
• Backer, V. Bjerregaard, P. Friborg, J. Homøe, P. Jensen, K.B. Jørgensen, M.E. Koch, A. Krause, T.G. & Mulvad, G. Grønland – et sygdomsmønster i forandring [In Danish: Greenland - a changing disease pattern]. Ugeskrift for Læger, 2005; 167; 1389.
   
• Hahn, G.W. Koch, A. Melbye, M. & Mølbak, K. Pattern of drug prescription for children under the age of four years in a population in Greenland. Acta Paediatrica, 2005; 94: 99-106.
   
• Koch, A. Krause, T.G. Krogfelt, K. Olsen, O.R. Fischer, T.K. & Melbye, M. Seroprevalence and risk factors for Helicobacter pylori infections in Greenlanders. Helicobacter, 2005; 10: 433-42.
   
• Møller, L.N. Petersen, E. Kapel, C. Melbye, M. & Koch, A. Outbreak of trichinellosis associated with consumption of game meat in west Greenland. Vetenary Parasitology, 2005; 132: 131-6.
   
• Friborg J, Wohlfahrt J, Koch A, Storm H, Olsen OR, Melbye M. Cancer susceptibility in nasopharyngeal carcinoma families--a population-based cohort study. Cancer Research, 2005; 65: 8567-72.
   
• Møller, L.N. Krause, T.G. Koch, A. Melbye, M. Kapel, C.M.O. & Petersen, E. Human antibody recognition of Anisakidae and Trichinella spp. In Greenland. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2007. Accepted for publication.
   
• Marquart, H.V. Schejbel, L. Sjøholm, A. Mårtensson, U. Nielsen, S. Koch, A. Svejgaard, A. & Garred, P. C1q deficiency in a New World family: identification of a new class of C1q disease-causing mutations. Clinical immunology, 2007. Accepted for publication.

email: ako@ssi.dk