PopMental

The PopMental research group combines advanced epidemiological methods with large administrative datasets (e.g. electronic health records) to investigate the causes and consequences of mental disorders.

Our research focuses on generating robust evidence to better understand mental health across populations and to inform policy and practice.

Research Areas

• Assessing the impact of mental disorders on health and societal outcomes, including comorbidity (within mental disorders and with physical conditions) and mortality.
• Advancing understanding of the social, health and environmental determinants of mental disorders.
• Developing methodological approaches to improve the accuracy and validity of register-based studies. This includes addressing limitations of electronic databases (e.g. incorporating data on social relationships or lifestyle factors through surveys) and accounting for changes in patient characteristics over time.

Team

Principal Investigator

• Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (ISGlobal / AU)
  PI of PopMental (2021–present)
  Professor at Aarhus University
  Assistant Research Professor at ISGlobal
  LinkedIn | Bluesky | GitHub

Senior Researchers

• Natalie Momen
  Assistant Professor at Aarhus University
  2022–present
  LinkedIn
• Linda Ejlskov
  Assistant Professor at Aarhus University
  2023–present (PopMental member since 2022)
  LinkedIn | Bluesky | GitHub
• Henriette Thisted Horsdal
  Senior Researcher at Aarhus University
  2026–present
• Gemma Castaño
  Staff Scientist at ISGlobal
  2025–present

Postdoctoral Researchers

• Mette Lise Lousdal
  Postdoctoral Researcher at Aarhus University
  2023–present
  LinkedIn
• Tomáš Formánek
  Postdoctoral Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Aarhus University
  2024–present
  LinkedIn | Bluesky | GitHub
• Danni Chen
  Postdoctoral Researcher at Aarhus University
  2025–present (PopMental member since 2022)
  LinkedIn | Bluesky | GitHub | X
• Aina Gabarrell Pascuet
  Postdoctoral Researcher at Aarhus University
  2025–present
• Benedikt Wicki
  Postdoctoral Researcher at Aarhus University
  2025–present
• Mette-Marie Zacher Kjeldsen
  Postdoctoral Researcher at Aarhus University
  2026–present
  LinkedIn
• Christine Leonhard Birk Sørensen
  External Postdoctoral Researcher from SDU
  2025–present (PopMental member since 2022)
  LinkedIn

PhD Students & Research Assistants

• Merete Lund Mægbæk
  Statistician at Aarhus University
  2026–present
• Katrine Bødkergaard Nielsen
  PhD Student at Aarhus University
  2024–present (PopMental member since 2023)
• Magnus Elias Kjærsgaard Tarp
  PhD Student at Aarhus University
  2025–present (PopMental member since 2024)
  LinkedIn | Bluesky
• Genona T. Maseras
  PhD Student at Aarhus University
  2025–present
• Charlotte Steen Duholm
  External PhD Student from Aarhus University Hospital
  2024–present

Selected Projects

• MentalSEP (2025–2030): Exploring the interplay between socioeconomic position and mental health using familial and genetic approaches.
• SIMS (2025–2028): Socioeconomic inequality and mental health: the role of social connections.
• SOMULTIMATE (2025–2027): Investigating somatic multimorbidity in people with mental disorders using innovative metrics and national register-based data.
• EnvironMENTAL (2025–2028): Restorative environments and mental health: salutogenic potential and equity perspectives.
• SocMenDis (2024–2027): Socioeconomic context and mental disorders: quantifying impact.
• MENTTIME (2023–2028): The burden of mental disorders over time.
• InfoMetrics (2022–2027): Developing informative metrics for improved understanding of mental health.
• SocioMental (2022–2025): Excess comorbidity and mortality in mental disorders: the role of socioeconomic status.
• FundaMentalHM (2019–2022): Innovative methods to improve estimation of fundamental health metrics in mental and physical conditions.

Selected Publications

Publications by year: 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 and earlier

2026 (including online ahead of print)

• Alsner KB, Laustsen LM, Lasgaard M, Grønkjær MS, Plana-Ripoll O. Social disconnection and subsequent mental disorders: a population-based cohort study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Online ahead of print.
• Laustsen LM, Ejlskov L, Chen D, Lasgaard M, Rod NH, Gradus JL, Grønkjær MS, Plana-Ripoll O. Quantifying the contribution of social disconnection to the mortality gap associated with mental disorders: a decomposition analysis. European Journal of Epidemiology. Online ahead of print.
• Klakk J, Trabjerg BB, Wimberley T, Plana-Ripoll O, Feenstra B, Christensen J, Dreier JW. School well-being in children with epilepsy and febrile seizures: a Danish nationwide cohort study. Epilepsy & Behavior. 2026;176:110870.
• Chan JKN, Li RCY, Plana-Ripoll O, Momen NC, Correll CU, Solmi M, Wong CSM, Ku KM, Mahboobani VR, Chung AKK, Lui SSY, Sham PC, Chang WC. All-cause and cause-specific mortality in people with mental disorders: a population-based study on risk evaluation, effect modifiers and excess life-years lost in Hong Kong. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2026;104:112742.
• Ejlskov L, Esen BO, Hakulinen C, Weye N, Formanek T, McGrath JJ, Pedersen CB, Plana-Ripoll O. Sibling comparison designs to assess social exposures and empirical tools to guide interpretation: an illustrative study of childhood income and subsequent mental disorders. Epidemiology. Online ahead of print.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Nordentoft M, Lousdal ML, Tarp MEK, Momen NC. Time trends in the mortality gap for individuals with mental disorders in Denmark. A population-based cohort study over 2010–2023. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Online ahead of print.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Formánek T, Momen NC. What can administrative registers tell us about the widening in life expectancy gap in people with mental disorders? Invited editorial. BJPsych Open. 2026;12(1):e8.
• Gribsholt SB, Laugesen K, Plana-Ripoll O, Ulrichsen SP, Vestergaard M, Richelsen B, Ekholm O, Sørensen HT. Body mass index and mental disorders: a Danish cohort study. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2026;28(1):306–315.
• Sørensen CLB, Plana-Ripoll O, Bültmann TN, Winding TN, Steen PB, Biering K. Social inequality in mental disorder diagnoses and psychotropic medication use among 15-year-old adolescents in Denmark from 2002–2022. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Online ahead of print.
• Hakulinen C, Gutvilig M, Niemi R, Momen NC, Pulkki-Råback, Böckerman P, Plana-Ripoll O, Komulainen K, Elovainio M. The associations of mental disorders in children with parents’ subsequent mental disorders: a nationwide cohort study from Finland and Denmark. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2026;228(1):10–17.

Back to top

2025

• Wimberley T, Plana-Ripoll O, Pedersen CB, Pedersen MG, Dreier JW, Christensen J, Horsdal HT, Astrup A, Thompson WK, Helenius D, McGrath JJ, Wray NR, Petersen LV, Vilhjálmsson B, Mortensen PB, Agerbo E. Population-representative inference for primary and secondary outcomes in extended case-cohort designs. Discover Public Health. 2025;22:599.
• Köhler-Forsberg O, Plana-Ripoll O, Fuglsang NFB. Respiratory diseases in individuals with severe mental illness. Lancet Psychiatry. 2025;12(10):725–726. Invited commentary.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Momen NC, Gallego-Alabanda D, Chen D, Hansen SN, Gómez Melis G, Pedersen CB, Agerbo E. Impact of washout duration to account for left truncation in register-based epidemiologic studies: estimating the risk of mental disorders. Epidemiology. 2025;36(6):719–729.
• Lousdal ML, LaBianca S, Agerbo E, Albiñana C, Vilhjálmsson BJ, McGrath JJ, Schork AJ, Plana-Ripoll O. Changes in polygenic burden for psychiatric disorders across two decades of birth cohorts. Nature Mental Health. 2025;3:1037–1045.
• Chen D, Ejlskov L, Dreier JW, Momen NC, Laustsen LM, Sørensen HT, Das-Munshi J, Plana-Ripoll O. The role of socioeconomic position in the association between mental disorders and mortality due to 11 specific underlying causes of death: a population-based cohort study. Lancet Regional Health – Europe. 2025;56:101397.
• Hjorth CF, Kjærulff TM, Thomsen MK, Cronin-Fenton D, Dalton SO, Olsen MH & the SEPLINE Group (incl. Chen D, Ejlskov L & Plana-Ripoll O). SEPLINE: Socioeconomic Position in Epidemiological Research: a national guideline on Danish registry data. Clinical Epidemiology. 2025;17:593–624.
• Sørensen CLB, Plana-Ripoll O, Bültmann TN, Winding TN, Steen PB, Biering K. Developmental trajectories in mental health through adolescence and adulthood: does socioeconomic status matter? Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2025;20:34:e33.
• Komulainen K, Niemi R, Gutvilig M, Momen NC, Böckerman P, Elovainio M, Plana-Ripoll O*, Hakulinen C* [*equal contribution]. Association of a child’s mental disorder with parental income and employment: analysis of nationwide register-based cohorts in Finland and Denmark. BMJ Mental Health. 2025;28:e301701.
• Laustsen LM, Lasgaard M, Skipper N, Chen D, Gradus JL, Grønkjær MS, Plana-Ripoll O. Social disconnectedness, economic outcomes, and the role of pre-existing mental health conditions: a population-based cohort study. PLoS Mental Health. 2025;2(5):e0000218 [pre-registered analysis plan and programming code].
• Horsdal HT, Albiñana C, Zhu Z, Boelt SG, Borbye-Lorenzen N, Cohen AS, Skogstrand K, Melgaard L, MacSween NJ, Thorbek MJ, Plana-Ripoll O, Petersen LV, Bulik CM, Børglum AD, Mors O, Nordentoft M, Werge T, Moen GH, D’Urso S, Wray NR, Vilhjálmsson BJ, Agerbo E, Pedersen CB, Mortensen PB, McGrath JJ. Convergent evidence linking neonatal vitamin D status and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders: a Danish case-cohort study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2025;12(6):410–420.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Momen C. Risk of depressive disorder after a range of medical conditions: the importance of registers. Lancet Public Health. 2025;10(6):E434–E435. Invited commentary.
• Laustsen LM, Ejlskov L, Chen D, Lasgaard M, Gradus J, Østergaard SD, Grønkjær MS, Plana-Ripoll O. Interaction between mental disorders and diminished social connections in the association with mortality: a Danish population-based cohort study. Commentary, author response. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2025;226:249–250.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Liu X, Köhler-Forsberg O, Sørensen HT, Momen NC. Mental disorders in Danish hospital registers: a review of content and possibilities for epidemiological research. Clinical Epidemiology. 2025;17:387–407.
• Moneta MV, Haro JM, Plana-Ripoll O*, Olaya B* [*equal contribution]. Life expectancy associated with specific mental disorders and the contribution of causes of death: a population-based study in the region of Catalonia. Psychiatry Research. 2025;348:116480.
• Ejlskov L, Plana-Ripoll O. Income in epidemiological research: a guide to measurement and analytical treatment with a case study on mental disorders and mortality. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2025;94:101733.
• Dreier JW, Trabjerg B, Lolk K, Plana-Ripoll O, Christensen J. Working years lost in people with epilepsy: a population-based cohort study. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 2025;96(8):784–793.
• López-Jiménez T, Plana-Ripoll O, Duarte-Salles T, Palomar A, Puente D. The effect between metabolic syndrome and life expectancy after cancer diagnosis: Catalan cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2025;25:178.
• Chen D, Momen NC, Ejlskov L, Bødkergaard K, Dreier JW, Sørensen HT, Laustsen LM, Harper S, Hakulinen C, McGrath JJ, Plana-Ripoll O. Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality associated with mental disorders: a population-based cohort study. World Psychiatry. 2025;24:92–102 [pre-registered analysis plan].
• Røssell E, Plana-Ripoll O, Josiasen M, Hansen KE, Bech BH, Rytter D. Association between endometriosis and working life among Danish women. Human Reproduction. 2025;40(3):461–468.
• Asmussen FB, Hjorth CF, Plana-Ripoll O, Mailhac A, Cronin-Fenton D. Socioeconomic position, psychiatric medical treatment and risk of breast cancer recurrence and mortality: a Danish population-based cohort study. Cancer Epidemiology. 2025;94:102733.
• Momen NC, Beck C, Lousdal ML, Agerbo E, McGrath JJ, Pedersen CB, Nordentoft M, Plana-Ripoll O. Mental health disorder trends in Denmark according to age, calendar period, and birth cohort. JAMA Psychiatry. 2025;82(2):161–170 [programming code].

2024

• Zheng Y, Weye N, Aburto JM, Permanyer I, Plana-Ripoll O. Average lifespan variation among people with mental disorders in Denmark: a nationwide, register-based cohort study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2024;53(3):268–275.
• Laustsen LM, Lasgaard M, Momen NC, Chen D, Gradus JL, Grønkjær MS, Jensen MM, Plana-Ripoll O. Social disconnectedness, subsequent medical conditions, and the role of pre-existing mental disorders: a population-based cohort study. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2024;23:e81 [analysis plan and code].
• Weye N, Plana-Ripoll O, Baravelli CM, Agardh EE, van der Velde L, Kinge JM, Knudsen AK. Educational differences in years lived with disability due to mental and substance use disorders: a cohort study using nationwide Norwegian and Danish registries. BMC Public Health. 2024;24:2576.
• Momen NC, Østergaard SD, Heide-Jørgensen U, Sørensen HT, McGrath JJ, Plana-Ripoll O. Associations between physical diseases and subsequent mental disorders: a longitudinal study in a population-based cohort. World Psychiatry. 2024;23(3):421–431 [analysis plan].
• Østergaard SD, Momen NC, Heide-Jørgensen U, Plana-Ripoll O. Risk of suicide across medical conditions and the role of prior mental disorder. JAMA Psychiatry. 2024;81(12):1198–1206 [analysis plan].
• López-Jiménez T, Plana-Ripoll O, Duarte-Salles T, Recalde M, Bennet M, Cos FX, Puente D. Exploring the association between metabolic syndrome, its components and subsequent cancer incidence: a cohort study in Catalonia. Cancer Medicine. 2024;13(16):e7400.
• Meijsen J, Hu K, Krebs M, Athanasiadis G, Washbrook S, Zetterberg R, Avelar R, Shorter J, Gådin J, Bergstedt J, Howard D, Ye W, Lu Y, Valdimarsdóttir U, Ingason A, Helenius D, Plana-Ripoll O, McGrath JJ, Micali N, Andreassen O, Werge T, Fang F, Buil A. Quantifying the relative importance of genetics and environment on the comorbidity between mental and cardiometabolic disorders using 17 million Scandinavians. Nature Communications. 2024;15(1):5064.
• Formánek T, Krupchanka D, Perry BI, Mladá K, Osimo EF, Masopust J, Jones PB*, Plana-Ripoll O* [*equal contribution]. Contribution of severe mental disorders to fatally harmful effects of physical disorders: national cohort study. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2024;225(4):436–445.
• Hamad AF, Monchka BA, Roos LL, Bolton JM, Plana-Ripoll O, Elgendi M, Lix LM. The intergenerational transfer of mental disorders: a population-based multigenerational linkage study. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2024;69(8):618–629.
• Laustsen LM, Ejlskov L, Chen D, Lasgaard M, Gradus J, Østergaard SD, Grønkjær MS, Plana-Ripoll O. Interaction between mental disorders and diminished social connections in the association with mortality: a Danish population-based cohort study. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2024;225(1):282–289 [analysis plan and code].
• Plana-Ripoll O, Chen D, Laustsen LM, Momen NC. The challenges at the core of multimorbidity research. Lancet Psychiatry. 2024;11:399–400. Invited commentary.
• Llorca-Bofí V, Plana-Ripoll O, Bioque M. Schizophrenia patients are not benefiting from worldwide improvements in life expectancy. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024;85:2. Invited commentary.
• Beck C, Pedersen CB, Plana-Ripoll O, Dalsgaard S, Debost JCP, Laursen TM, Musliner KL, Mortensen PB, Pedersen MG, Petersen L, Yilmaz Z, McGrath JJ, Agerbo E. A comprehensive analysis of age of onset and cumulative incidence of mental disorders: a Danish register study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2024;149:467–478.
• Skajaa M, Körmendiné Farkas D, Laugesen K, Fuglsang CH, Henderson VW, Plana-Ripoll O, Gaist D, Sørensen HT. Mental health conditions in partners and adult children of stroke survivors. JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(3):e243286.
• Jefsen O, Holde K, McGrath JJ, Rajagopal VM, Albiñana C, Vilhjálmsson BJ, Grove J, Agerbo E, Yilmaz Z, Plana-Ripoll O, Munk-Olsen T, Demontis D, Børglum A, Mors O, Bulik CM, Mortensen PB, Petersen LV. Polygenic risk of mental disorders and subject-specific school grades. Biological Psychiatry. 2024;96(3):222–229.
• Dreier JW, Trabjerg BB, Plana-Ripoll O, Skipper N, Agerbo E, Cotsapas C, Berg AT, Christensen J. Epilepsy in childhood and school performance: a nationwide cohort study. Brain. 2024;147(2):532–541.
• Chen D, Ejlskov L, Laustsen LM, Weye N, Sørensen CLB, Momen NC, Dreier JW, Zheng Y, Damgaard AJ, McGrath JJ, Sørensen HT, Plana-Ripoll O. The role of socioeconomic position on the association between mental disorders and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2024;81(2):125–134.
• Lousdal ML, Plana-Ripoll O. Do epidemiologists choose the right tools to explore the impact of mental disorders over time?. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024;79:1–3. Invited commentary.
• Laustsen L, Christiansen J, Maindal H, Plana-Ripoll O, Lasgaard M. The longitudinal relation between loneliness and perceived stress: a structural equation modelling analysis of 10,159 individuals. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2024;52:410–418.

2023

• Mutsaers HAM, Merrild C, Nørregaard R, Plana-Ripoll O. The Impact of Fibrotic Diseases on Global Mortality from 1990 to 2019. Journal of Translational Medicine. 2023;21:818.
• Pedersen EM, Agerbo E, Plana-Ripoll O, Steinbach J, Krebs MD, Hougaard DM, Werge T, Nordentoft M, Børglum AD, Musliner KL, Ganna A, Schork AJ, Mortensen PB, McGrath JJ, Privé F, Vilhjálmsson BJ. ADuLT: An efficient and robust time-to-event GWAS. Nature Communications. 2023;14(1):5553.
• Berk M, Köhler-Forsberg O, Turner M, Penninx BWJH, Wrobel A, Firth J, Loughman A, Reavley NJ, McGrath JJ, Momen NC, Plana-Ripoll O, O’Neill A, Sisking D, Williams LJ, Carvalho AF, Walker AJ, Dean O, Walder K, Berk L, Dodd S, Yung A, Marx W. Comorbidity between major depressive disorder and physical diseases: a comprehensive review of epidemiology, mechanisms and management. World Psychiatry. 2023;22:366–387.
• Zheng Y, Permanyer I, Canudas-Romo V, Aburto JM, Nigri A, Plana-Ripoll O. Lifespan variation among people with a given disease or condition. PLoS One. 2023;18(9):e0290962.
• McGrath JJ, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Altwaijri Y, Andrade LH, Bromet EJ, Bruffaerts R, Caldas de Almeida JM, Chardoul S, Chiu WT, Degenhardt L, Ferry F, Gureje O, Haro JM, Karam EG, Karam G, Khaled S, Kovess-Masfety V, Magno M, Medina-Mora ME, Moskalewicz J, Navarro-Mateu F, Nishi D, Plana-Ripoll O, Posada-Villa J, Rapsey C, Sampson NA, Stagnaro JC, Stein DJ, ten Have M, Torres Y, Vladescu C, Woodruff PW, Zarkov Z, Kessler RC. Age of onset and cumulative risk of mental disorders: a cross-national analysis of population surveys from 29 countries. Lancet Psychiatry. 2023;10(9):668–681.
• Weye N, McGrath JJ, Lasgaard M, Momen NC, Knudsen AK, Musliner K, Plana-Ripoll O. Agreement between survey- and register-based measures of depression in Denmark. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2023;147(6):581–592.
• Albiñana C, Zhu Z, Borbye-Lorenzen N, Boelt SG, Cohen A, Skogstrand K, Wray NR, Revez JA, Privé F, Petersen LV, Bulik CM, Plana-Ripoll O, Musliner K, Agerbo E, Borglum AD, Hougaard DM, Nordentoft M, Werge T, Mortensen PB, Vilhjálmsson BJ, McGrath JJ. Genetic correlates of vitamin D-binding protein and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in neonatal dried blood spots. Nature Communications. 2023;14(1):852.
• Ejlskov L, Antonsen S, Wulff J, Agerbo E, Plana-Ripoll O, Sabel CE, Fan CC, Thompson WK, Mok P, Pedersen C, Webb R. Multilevel interactions between family and neighbourhood socioeconomic indices in childhood and later risks of self-harm and violent criminality in Denmark: a national cohort study. Lancet Public Health. 2023;8(2):E99–E108.
• Olaya B, Moneta MV, Plana-Ripoll O, Haro JM. Association between mental disorders and mortality: a register-based cohort study from the region of Catalonia. Psychiatry Research. 2023;320:115037.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Weye N, Knudsen AK, Hakulinen C, Madsen KB, Christensen MK, Agerbo E, Laursen TM, Nordentoft M, Timmermann A, Whiteford H, Øverland S, Iburg KM, McGrath JJ. The association between mental disorders and subsequent years of working life. Lancet Psychiatry. 2023;10(1):30–39.
• Dreier JW, Laursen TM, Tomson T, Plana-Ripoll O, Christensen J. Cause-specific mortality and life years lost in people with epilepsy – a Danish cohort study. Brain. 2023;146(1):124–134.
• Liu X, Plana-Ripoll O, McGrath JJ, Petersen LV, Dharmage SC, Momen N. Bidirectional associations between asthma and types of mental disorders. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – In Practice. 2023;11(3):799–808.
• Christensen MK, McGrath JJ, Momen N, Weye N, Agerbo E, Pedersen CB, Plana-Ripoll O*, Iburg K* [*equal contribution]. The health care cost of comorbidity in individuals with mental disorders: a Danish register-based study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2023;57(6):914–922.

2022

• Momen NC, Plana-Ripoll O, Bulik CM, McGrath JJ, Thornton KM, Yilmaz Z, Petersen LV. Comorbidity between types of eating disorder and general medical conditions. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2022;220(5):279–286.
• Momen NC, Lasgaard M, Weye N, Edwards J, McGrath JJ*, Plana-Ripoll O* [*equal contribution]. Representativeness of survey participants in relation to mental disorders: a linkage between national registers and a population-representative survey. International Journal of Population Data Science. 2022;7:04:03.
• Weye N, Momen NC, Whiteford HA, Christensen MK, Iburg KM, Santomauro DF, Agerbo E, Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, McGrath JJ*, Plana-Ripoll O* [*equal contribution]. The contribution of general medical conditions to the non-fatal burden of mental disorders: a register-based cohort study in Denmark. BJPsych Open. 2022;8:e180.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Dreier JW, Momen NC, Prior A, Weye N, Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, Iburg KM, Christensen MK, Laursen TM, Agerbo E, Pedersen MG, Brandt J, Frohn LM, Geels C, Christensen JH, McGrath JJ. Analysis of mortality metrics associated with a comprehensive range of disorders in Denmark, 2000–2018: a population-based cohort study. PLoS Medicine. 2022;19(6):e1004023 [analysis plan and code].
• Boelt SG, Plana-Ripoll O, Albiñana C, Vilhjálmsson B, McGrath JJ, Cohen A. A method to correct for the influence of bovine serum albumin-associated vitamin D metabolites in protein extracts from neonatal dried blood spots. BMC Research Notes. 2022;15:194.
• Christensen MK, McGrath JJ, Momen NC, Whiteford HA, Weye N, Agerbo E, Pedersen CB, Mortensen PB, Plana-Ripoll O*, Iburg K* [*equal contribution]. The cost of mental disorders in Denmark: a register-based study. npj Mental Health Research. 2022;1:1.
• Iulita MF, Chavez DG, Christensen MK, Tamayo NV, Plana-Ripoll O, Rasmussen SA, Figuls MR, Alcolea D, Videla L, Barroeta I, Benejam B, Altuna M, Padilla C, Belbin O, Carmona-Iragui M, Blesa R, Lleó A, Bejanin A, Fortea J. Association of Alzheimer disease with life expectancy in people with Down syndrome. JAMA Network Open. 2022;5(5):e2212910.
• Momen NC*, Plana-Ripoll O*, Agerbo E, Christensen MK, Iburg KM, Laursen TM, Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, Weye N, McGrath JJ [*equal contribution]. Mortality associated with mental disorders and comorbid general medical conditions: a nationwide, register-based study. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022;79(5):444–453.
• López-Jiménez T, Duarte-Salles T, Plana-Ripoll O, Recalde M, Xavier-Cos F, Puente D. Association between metabolic syndrome and 13 types of cancer in Catalonia: a matched case-control study. PLoS One. 2022;17(3):e0264634.
• Plana-Ripoll O*, Momen NC*, McGrath JJ, Wimberley T, Brikell I, Thygesen M, Weye N, Pedersen CB, Mors O, Schendel D, Mortensen PB, Dalsgaard S [*equal contribution]. Temporal changes in sex- and age-specific incidence profiles of mental disorders: a nationwide study from 1970 to 2016. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2022;145(6):604–614.
• Tesli M, Degerud E, Plana-Ripoll O, Gustavson K, Torvik FA, Ystrom E, Ask H, Tesli N, Høye A, Stoltenberg C, Reichborn-Kjennerud T, Nesvåg R, Næss Ø. Educational attainment and mortality in schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2022;145(5):481–493.
• Pedersen EM, Agerbo E, Plana-Ripoll O, Grove J, Dreier JW, Musliner KL, Bækvad-Hansen M, Athanasiadis G, Schork AJ, Bybjerg-Grauholm J, Hougaard DM, Werge T, Nordentoft M, Mors O, Dalsgaard S, Christensen J, Børglum AD, Mortensen PB, McGrath JJ, Privé F, Vilhjálmsson B. Accounting for age-of-onset and family history improves power in genome-wide association studies. American Journal of Human Genetics. 2022;109(3):417–432.
• Momen NC, Plana-Ripoll O, Yilmaz Z, Thornton LM, McGrath JJ, Bulik CM, Petersen LV. Comorbidity between eating disorders and psychiatric disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 2022;55(4):505–517.
• Lindekilde N, Scheuer SH, Diaz LJ, Rubin KH, Plana-Ripoll O, Henriksen JE, Lasgaard M, Andersen GS, Pouwer F. Risk of developing type 2 diabetes in individuals with a psychiatric disorder: a nationwide register-based cohort study. Diabetes Care. 2022;45(3):724–733.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Nordentoft M. Psychiatric disorders in Nordic childhood cancer survivors. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022;9(1):2–3. Invited commentary.

2021 and earlier (selected publications)

• Hamm NC, Hamad AF, Wall-Wieler E, Roos LL, Plana-Ripoll O, Lix LM. Multigenerational health research using population-based linked databases: an international review. International Journal of Population Data Science. 2021;6(1):1686.
• Madsen KB, Momen NC, Petersen LV, Plana-Ripoll O, Haarman BCM, Drexhage H, Mortensen PB, McGrath JJ, Munk-Olsen T. Bidirectional associations between treatment-resistant depression and general medical conditions. European Neuropsychopharmacology. 2021;51:7–19.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Di Prinzio P, McGrath JJ, Mortensen PB, Morgan VA. Factors that contribute to urban–rural gradients in risk of schizophrenia: comparing Danish and Western Australian registers. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2021;55(12):1157–1165.
• Weye N, Santomauro D, Agerbo E, Christensen MK, Iburg KM, Momen NC, Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, Whiteford HA, McGrath JJ, Plana-Ripoll O. Register-based metrics of years lived with disability associated with mental and substance use disorders: a Danish register-based cohort study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2021;8(4):310–319.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Lasgaard M, Mneimneh Z, McGrath JJ. The evolution of psychiatric epidemiology: where to next? Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2021;66(9):774–777. Invited commentary.
• Nordentoft M, Plana-Ripoll O, Laursen TM. Cancer and schizophrenia. Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 2021;34(3):260–265. Invited review.
• Agerbo E, Trabjerg BB, Børglum AD, Schork AJ, Vilhjálmsson BJ, Pedersen CB, Hakulinen C, Albiñana C, Hougaard DM, Grove J, McGrath JJ, Bybjerg-Grauholm J, Mors O, Plana-Ripoll O, Werge T, Wray NR, Mortensen PB, Musliner KL. Risk of early-onset depression associated with polygenic liability, parental psychiatric history, and socioeconomic status. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021;78(4):387–397.
• Madsen KB, Plana-Ripoll O, Musliner KL, Debost JCP, Petersen LV, Munk-Olsen T. Cause-specific life years lost in individuals with treatment-resistant depression: a nationwide register-based cohort study. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2021;280(Pt A):250–257.
• Sahuric A, Hohwü K, Madsen KB, Christensen AF, Snefstrup MV, Obel C, Plana-Ripoll O. Differential parent and teacher reports of ADHD symptoms according to the child’s country of origin. Journal of Attention Disorders. 2021;25(9):1207–1214.
• Madsen KB, Petersen LV, Plana-Ripoll O, Musliner KL, Debost JCP, Gronemann FH, Mortensen PB, Munk-Olsen T. Early labour force exits in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology. 2020;10:2045125320973791.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Musliner KL, Dalsgaard S, Momen NC, Weye N, Christensen MK, Agerbo E, Iburg KM, Laursen TM, Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, Petersen LV, Santomauro DF, Vilhjálmsson B, Whiteford HA, McGrath JJ. Nature and prevalence of combinations of mental disorders and their association with excess mortality. World Psychiatry. 2020;19:339–349.
• Christensen MK, Lim CW, Saha S, Plana-Ripoll O, Cannon D, Presley F, Weye N, Momen NC, Whiteford HA, Iburg KM, McGrath JJ. The cost of mental disorders: a systematic review. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2020;29:e161.
• McGrath JJ, Lim CW, Plana-Ripoll O, Holtz Y, Agerbo E, Momen NC, Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB, Abdulmalik J, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Bromet EJ, Bruffaerts R, Bunting B, Caldas de Almeida JM, de Girolamo G, De Vries YA, Florescu S, Gureje O, Haro JM, Harris MH, Hu C, Karam EG, Kawakami N, Kiejna A, Kovess-Masfety V, Lee S, Mneimneh Z, Navarro-Mateu F, Orozco R, Posada-Villa J, Roest AM, Saha S, Scott KM, Stagnaro JC, Stein DJ, Torres Y, Viana MC, Ziv Y, Kessler RC, de Jonge P. Comorbidity within mental disorders: a comprehensive analysis. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2020;29:e153.
• Engemann K, Svenning JC, Arge L, Brandt J, Ericstrup C, Geels C, Herte O, Mortensen PB, Plana-Ripoll O, Tsirogiannis C, Sabel CE, Sigsgaard T, Pedersen CB. Associations between growing up in natural environments and subsequent psychiatric disorders. Environmental Research. 2020;188:109788.
• Weye N, Momen NC, Christensen MK, Iburg KM, Dalsgaard S, Laursen TM, Mortensen PB, Santomauro DF, Scott JG, Whiteford HA, McGrath JJ, Plana-Ripoll O. Association of specific mental disorders with premature mortality. JAMA Network Open. 2020;3(6):e206646.
• Momen NC, Plana-Ripoll O, Agerbo E, Benros ME, Borglum A, Christensen MK, Dalsgaard S, Degenhardt L, de Jonge P, Devost JC, Fenger-Grøn M, Gunn JM, Iburg KM, Kessing LV, Kessler RC, Laursen TM, Lim C, Mors O, Mortensen PB, Musliner KL, Nordentoft M, Pedersen CB, Petersen LV, Ribe AR, Roest AM, Saha S, Schork AJ, Scott KM, Sievert C, Sørensen HJ, Stedman TJ, Vestergaard M, Vilhjálmsson B, Werge T, Weye N, Whiteford H, Prior A, McGrath JJ. Association between mental disorders and subsequent medical conditions. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020;382(18):1721–1731.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Momen NC, Weye N, Christensen MK, Iburg KM, Laursen TM, McGrath JJ. Changes over time in the differential mortality gap in individuals with mental disorders. JAMA Psychiatry. 2020;77(6):648–650.
• Liu X, Plana-Ripoll O, Ingstrup K, Agerbo E, Skjærven R, Munk-Olsen T. Postpartum psychiatric disorders and subsequent live birth. Human Reproduction. 2020;35(4):958–967.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Canudas-Romo V, Weye M, Laursen TM, McGrath JJ, Andersen PK. lillies: an R package for the estimation of excess life years lost. PLoS One. 2020;15(3):e0228073.
• Weye N, Christensen MK, Momen NC, Iburg KM, Plana-Ripoll O, McGrath JJ. The Global Burden of Disease methodology has been good for mental disorders – but not good enough. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2020;65(2):102–103. Invited editorial.
• Dalsgaard S, Thorsteinsson E, Trabjerg BB, Schullehner J, Plana-Ripoll O, Brikell I, Wimberley T, Thygesen M, Madsen KB, Timmerman A, Schendel D, McGrath JJ, Mortensen PB, Pedersen CB. A comprehensive nationwide study of the incidence of the full spectrum of mental disorders in childhood and adolescence. JAMA Psychiatry. 2020;77(2):155–164.
• Engemann K, Svenning JC, Arge L, Brandt J, Geels C, Mortensen PB, Plana-Ripoll O, Tsirogiannis C, Pedersen CB. Natural surroundings in childhood are associated with lower schizophrenia rates. Schizophrenia Research. 2020;216:488–495.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Pedersen CB, Agerbo E, Holtz Y, Erlangsen A, Canudas-Romo V, Andersen PK, Charlson FJ, Christensen MK, Erskine HE, Ferrari AJ, Iburg KM, Momen N, Mortensen PB, Nordentoft M, Santomauro DF, Scott JG, Whiteford HA, Weye N, McGrath JJ, Laursen TM. A comprehensive analysis of mortality-related health metrics associated with mental disorders. Lancet. 2019;394(10211):1827–1835.
• Khan A, Plana-Ripoll O, Antonsen S, Brandt J, Geels C, Landecker H, Sullivan P, Pedersen CB, Rzhetsky A. Environmental pollution is strongly associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorders in US and Denmark. PLoS Biology. 2019;17(8):e3000353.
• Laursen TM, Plana-Ripoll O, Andersen PK, McGrath JJ, Toender A, Nordentoft M, Canudas-Romo V, Erlangsen A. Cause-specific life years lost among persons diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research. 2019;206:284–290.
• Plana-Ripoll O, Pedersen CB, Holtz Y, Benros ME, Dalsgaard S, de Jonge P, Fan CC, Degenhardt L, Ganna A, Greve AN, Gunn J, Iburg KM, Kessing LV, Lee BK, Lim CW, Mors O, Nordentoft M, Prior A, Roest AM, Saha S, Schork A, Scott JG, Scott KM, Stedman T, Sørensen HJ, Werge T, Whiteford HA, Laursen TM, Agerbo E, Kessler R, Mortensen PB, McGrath JJ. Exploring comorbidity within mental disorders among a Danish national population. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019;76(3):259–270.

Back to top

Prizes & Awards

A non-exhaustive list of prizes, awards and individual grants received by PopMental team members is presented below:

• LF Postdoc Fellowship by the Lundbeck Foundation to Mette-Marie Zacher Kjeldsen (2026).
• DDSA PhD Fellowship by the Danish Data Science Academy to Genona T. Maseras (2025).
• Early Career Researcher Award (Innovative Concepts or Methods in Social Epidemiology) by the Social Epidemiology Society to Linda Ejlskov (2025).
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship by the European Commission to Tomáš Formánek (2025).
• LF Postdoc Fellowship by the Lundbeck Foundation to Aina Gabarrell Pascuet (2025).
• Main PhD Supervisor of the Year Award by the Graduate School of Health at Aarhus University to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2025).
• Ferenc Bojan Young Investigators Award Nomination at the European Public Health Conference to Lisbeth Mølgaard Laustsen (2024).
• Early Career Researcher Poster Award at the European Psychiatric Association section of Epidemiology and Social Psychiatry to Magnus Elias Kjærsgaard Tarp (2024).
• ERC Starting Grant by the European Commission to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2024).
• Poster Award at the Nordic Conference of Epidemiology and Register-based Health Research to Danni Chen (2024).
• William Demant Fonden Travel Grant to Katrine Bødkergaard Nielsen (2024).
• Knud Højgaards Fond Travel Grant to Magnus Elias Kjærsgaard Tarp (2024).
• Rising Star Award by the Schizophrenia International Research Society to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2024).
• LF Postdoc Fellowship by the Lundbeck Foundation to Linda Ejlskov (2023).
• American Scandinavian Foundation Travel Grant to Lisbeth Mølgaard Laustsen (2023).
• Early Career Researcher Keynote Prize from the European Psychiatric Association section of Epidemiology and Social Psychiatry to Linda Ejlskov (2022).
• Sapere Aude DFF-Starting Grant by Independent Research Fund Denmark to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2022).
• William Demant Fonden Travel Grant to Lisbeth Mølgaard Laustsen (2022).
• Michele Tansella Award by the World Psychiatric Association section of Epidemiology and Public Health to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2022).
• Fully-funded PhD Fellowship from Aarhus University to Lisbeth Mølgaard Laustsen (2021).
• Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship by the Lundbeck Foundation to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2021).
• Schroll Prize for Excellence by the Danish Epidemiological Society to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2020).
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship by the European Commission to Oleguer Plana-Ripoll (2019).

Contact & Join Us

Our research group focuses on the field of mental health epidemiology, involving the analysis of large-scale data to understand patterns, causes and effects of mental health disorders. We use advanced statistical methods and epidemiological techniques to generate insights that can inform public health policies and improve mental health care.

Prospective Group Members

We encourage those interested in joining our group in Barcelona or Aarhus to pursue training that provides a strong background in areas such as epidemiology, biostatistics, data science, medicine, public health, demography, sociology and/or psychology. A solid foundation in these fields will be essential for contributing meaningfully to our research projects.

How to Join the Group

Positions funded through external grants at PhD and postdoctoral level are advertised (when available) via the websites of Aarhus University and/or ISGlobal. Due to the high volume of applications, only a limited number of candidates can be accommodated.

Further information for those interested in applying for funding to join the group, or for internships at bachelor's or master's level, can be found on the group’s official website. Applicants are expected to demonstrate a strong academic background in relevant disciplines, as well as professionalism and commitment in their application.

Where We Are

Aarhus

National Centre for Register-based Research
Department of Public Health, Aarhus University
Fuglesangs Allé 26
8210 Aarhus V, Denmark

Barcelona

Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB)
C/ Doctor Aiguader, 88
08003 Barcelona, Spain