Student from Aarhus University receives scholarship for cancer research

Mette Lise Lousdal from Aarhus University has recently received a scholarship of DKK 204,000 from The Danish Cancer Research Foundation. The scholarship will strengthen her research into breast cancer screening.

Mette Lise Lousdal, Aarhus Universitet, Institut for Folkesundhed, Dansk Kræftforsknings Fond, brystkræft, screening.
Mette Lise Lousdal, BSc in Public Health og kandidatstuderende på Aarhus Universitet, Institut for Folkesundhed. Foto: Anders Trærup/AU Kommunikation.

Screening for breast cancer is the focal point for Mette Lise Lousdal and her research group. Research that the Danish Cancer Research Foundation has chosen to support with a scholarship of DKK 204,000, which is intended to help the young researcher commence her PhD project.

To find the life-threatening cases of breast cancer, many healthy women are today called-in for screening. Some of these women will be diagnosed with breast cancer that is, in reality, harmless because the malignant tumour grows so slowly that it will never become life threatening.

"Women should be aware of both the advantages and disadvantages before making a fully informed decision to undergo breast cancer screening. Our research we will examine how many lives we save compared to how many cases of overdiagnosis there are. This is really important for the information that we give the women," says Mette Lise Lousdal.

In Denmark breast cancer screening is offered to all women between 50-69 years of age. Mette Lise Lousdal and the research team will use the project to examine whether the screening project has resulted in cancer being discovered earlier, and then how mortality has changed in relation to different stages of development of breast cancer.

In addition to the financial assistance, Mette Lise Lousdal hopes that the scholarship will help to create awareness about screening for breast cancer and underline the importance of research into the effect of screening.

The scholarship was presented on Monday 16 June at a reception at the Danish Cancer Research Foundation’s information office in Copenhagen.

Further information

BSc in Public Health, Master’s degree student Mette Lise Lousdal
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
mette.lise.lousdal@publ.au.dk