Meet Louise von Essen, Professor of Health Care Sciences and Programme Director

As a research group leader in U-CARE, Louise makes sure that the research conducted within the program moves forward and is carried out in a smooth and efficient way. Her days at work can look very different from one another.

– I am responsible for the work of the entire group, so I make sure that things flow and that the working environment is healthy. My duties also include the planning of various research studies and applying for funding to carry them out. I also conduct research myself together with others in the group, Louise explains.

Louise’s primary research interest centres on parents and other guardians of children with a serious illness. She is currently working on a number of projects in this area. A project that she finds particularly exciting is a new collaboration between U-CARE and researchers and medical doctors in Dar es Salaam:

Together we will develop emotional support and information for parents and guardians of children with cancer in Tanzania. The support will be delivered through mobile phone applications, or text messages for those who do not have access to a smartphone.

What Louise likes the most about her job is that she gets to see how the different individuals in the U-CARE team develop and grow in their work roles. When she is not working, she also likes to see family and friends, to swim and spend time in her house on the island Gräsö.

– The whole environment on Gräsö is so peaceful. The nature there is beautiful and it’s calm and relaxing, Louise says.

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