Research group
Drugs and drug management (DrugMan)
More specifically, we focus on three research areas
- Medication management and patient safety in health and social services
- Interdisciplinary collaboration in medication management
- Drug discovery and drug development
The research group supports Nord University's strategic core area for societal safety, and health, welfare and upbringing, as well as FSH's strategic goals and action plan. The group's research is in line with the UN's sustainable development goals on good health and well-being.
Our research seeks to improve the quality of medication management in health and care, as well as increase knowledge and competence in clinical pharmacology among health personnel working in public health services as well as in pharmacies. In addition, our research aims to provide new knowledge about medicines by developing new active substances and medicines.
The members of the research group carry out basic research in medicinal chemistry and molecular oncology, and applied research with a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods within health sciences. In developing and implementing research projects, we utilize the interdisciplinary competence in the group. In addition, research is conducted in collaboration with national and international networks, and in close collaboration with practitioners and other stakeholders.
Our projects seek external funding with the aim of obtaining grants from competitive national and international sources. In addition, we systematically apply for funding from the faculty for PhD projects.
The research group functions as an arena for interaction and knowledge exchange, presentation of ongoing research projects and discussion of methodological as well as other research-related issues.
Regional, national and international publications and presentations of research findings, including contributions to research-based education about medicines and medication management in health education programs, are a natural part of the group's activity.
We publish research in relevant high-quality, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journals, and disseminate results in popular science forums whenever possible. We strive to include both bachelor's, master's and PhD students in ongoing research.
Active research projects
Period: 2022-date.
The project is funded by the Foundation for the Promotion of Apothecary Pharmacy.
This is a PhD project where the goal is to develop and pilot patient-centered pharmacist-led consultation
in pharmacies to support the safe use of medicines. The consultation is aimed at chronically ill patients
who have used cardiovascular agents for more than one year.Methods used are design thinking including qualitative interviews, and an intervention study.
Cristin project ID: 2591720
Collaboration: Helene M. Devold (PhD) Sykehusapoteket Midt-Norge, Elin Bergene (Assoc. Prof.) NTNU, and Nils Espen Lilleheim (patient research partner).
Period: 2019-date.
The overall objective of this project was to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of nurses’ medication administration practices for elderly patients in nursing homes. The results indicated that modification of solid oral medications was common in nursing homes, with crushing being the most common modification method, and difficulty swallowing being the most reported reason.
The occurrence of modification was associated with both the patient’s cognitive function and the mode of administration.
Nurses perceived medication dispensing as a complex process, where both expected and unexpected challenges affected their ability to follow professional standards and guidelines. In such situations, they had to use their knowledge and make a number of adjustments based on organizational factors and the individual needs of the patients. Nurses used a variety of thinking strategies during medication dispensing, but the specific strategies and frequency of use varied among nurses. The results have been communicated in posters and oral presentations, and 3 scientific articles:
1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2021.01.005,
2) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2022.02.019,
3) https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16945The project is funded by the Norwegian Directorate of higher education and skills,
The aim of this project is to develop, test, and implement student active learning activities in the Bachelor Program in Pharmacy at Nord university, and increase the professional competence of the academic staff. The focus will be on peer learning and peer assessment activities, which will be included in most parts of the bachelor program according to a step-by-step model. Mixed methods will be used for project evaluation and research, including qualitative focus group interviews, and cross sectional design with questionnaires.
Cristin project ID: 2607785.
Collaboration: Ass.Prof. Beata Godejord, Nord University Business School, Postdoc. Mirey Alfarah and Ass.Prof. Reidun Kjome, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, UiB.
Periode: 2016-dd.
This project is partly funded by the Regional collaboration for research, innovation and education (Samarbeidsorganet i Helse Midt Norge)
The aim of this project is to develop, test and evaluate an interprofessional education model with learning activities during the students' practice placement periods, including students from the Bachelor Programs of Pharmacy, Paramedic, Nursing, and Social Education at the Faculty of Nursing and Health sciences, Nord University.
A central activity in this model is interprofessional supervision by healthcare professionals. The method used is action research.
Outcomes will be an education model with learning activities during the health professions students' practice. Knowledge will be disseminated in conferences, a project report and two scientific papers.
Cristin project-ID: 2474250
Collaboration: A joint project with Nord University, Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust (Sykehuset Namsos) and Central Norway Hospital Pharmacy Trust (Sykehusapoteket i Namsos).
En kobling mellom Helseundersøkelsen i Trøndelag (HUNT) og Legemiddelregisteret
Funded by County Commissioner H.B. Guldahl and his wife Lucy Guldahl's legacy
We have invented a model for how to attack CDK8 with easily accessible novel compounds and we aim to further explore and develop this approach thoroughly. Initial preclinical data obtained from compounds emerged from said model have revealed promising results. To improve and evolve our finding into a commercial drug, we will employ advanced computational methods to systematize, coordinate and validate the data output from scientific experiments.
This in turn will streamline the discovery process and offer much needed guidance for the chemical synthesis of drug candidates. As a proof of concept and an exploration of the therapeutic outcome of the model, the most promising candidates will be evaluated using biobanked blasts from therapy-resistant acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients. This will be conducted both in cell experiments in vitro as well as in animal models.
Collaboration: Trond V. Hansen (UiO), Anders Vik (UiO), Lars Herfindahl (UiB), Reidun Aesøy (UiB), Sandra Liekens (KU Leuven, Belgium), Vladimir Krystof (Palacký Univ. Olomouc, Czeck Rep), Yasser M.A. Mohamed (National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt
Completed projects
Project period: 1995-2019
A linkage between the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD)
The aim of this project is to increase our knowledge of the relationships of depression and
anxiety symptoms with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes (DM) prevalence and drug
treatments.The project included three descriptive papers, using data from HUNT surveys and NorPD, using cross-sectional and prospective analysis. Overall results showed that adults with CVDs, and to a lesser extent DM, had generally a higher prevalence of both depression and anxiety symptoms compared to adults without CVDs or DM. However, these results were more consistent for CVDs and depression among men. The depression symptom prevalence and risk of initiating antidepressant therapy varied by type of CVDs treatment.
Cristin project-ID: 2052912
Collaboration: HUNT Research Centre/NTNU and the IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Australia
Project period: 2021–2022
This was a collaborative project for publishing a scientific anthology with the aim of presenting knowledge on mediciation safety in municipal health and care services. The anthology consists of an introduction and 16 chapters. The outcome is a presentation of challenges of medication management and the rational use of medicines in municipal health and care services, and present various strategies and measures related to medication safety.
Publisher: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, Nordic Open Access Scholarly Publishing, Oslo, Norway.
https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.172Collaboration: Totally, 35 researchers from several Universities in Norway and Wales contributed: University of Oslo (UiO), UiT The Arctic University of Norway, University of Stavanger (UiS), University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), Molde University College (HiM), Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), Swansey University, Centre for Care Research (CCR), Trondheim municipality, Norwegian Centre for E-health research, Innlandet Hospital Trust.
Project period: 2017-22
The aim of this project was to develop knowledge on how decision-making relating to pro re nata medication is practiced in municipal sheltered housings for the elderly. The project concludes that decision-making about pro re nata medication is a complex, institutionalized practice and based on limited rationality with an extensive use of experiential knowledge and relational continuity.
These are conditions that may lead to differences in the decision-making practice, and consequently, the patient safety may be put at risk.
The results have been disseminated in several posters and oral talks, and 6 scientific papers:
1) https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.172.ch11,
2) https://doi.org/10.1177%2F20571585211069521,
3) https://doi.org/10.1177/23333936211056930
4) https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.2387-5984-2021-03-01
5) https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.2387-5984-2020-02-04
Project period: 2018-2020
The aim was to develop knowledge on inappropriate administration (modification) of oral solid medicines in municipal health and care services.
Cristin project-ID: 56867.
Collaboration: Namsos municipality, Prof. Ingela Enmarker, Mid Sweden University.
