Below, you can find an overview of some of our ongoing projects in BREATHE CAG. If you have any questions, feel free to contact any of the team members involved.

PhD projects

Radiomics and lung function development

Timespan: 2024-2027. 

PI and main supervisor: Sigrid Anna Aalberg Vikjord

PhD student: Mia Rødde

Individuals follow distinct lung function trajectories over the life course. This project links these trajectories to lung structure on CT imaging, using AI to explore what differentiates recovery from persistent impairment, and what this might mean for future prevention.

Read more about the project here. 

Eosinophilic subtyping 

Timespan: 2025-

PI and main supervisor: Anders Tøndell

PhD student: Hilde Ravlo Nielsen

Patients with T2-high severe asthma respond differently to biological therapies. This project studies eosinophil heterogeneity using spectral flow cytometry and other methods to explore what distinguishes responders from non-responders, and how this could guide more precise treatment.

Antibiotics use in COPD 

Timespan: 2026-

PI and main supervisor: Sigrid Anna Aalberg Vikjord

PhD student: TBA

People with COPD receive antibiotics frequently, but patterns of use vary widely across patients, clinicians, and clinical situations. This project examines how different antibiotic strategies, across time, settings, and disease stages, relate to patient outcomes and health service use. Using linked national registry data and modern causal methods, the project aims to clarify when antibiotic treatment is likely to help, when it may cause harm, and how prescribing can be made more precise and sustainable.

Read more about this project here.

Postdoc projects

COPD: Mapping the journey through levels of Norwegian health care

Timespan: 2025-2028

Postdoctoral candidate: Kirsti Wahlberg

People with COPD move through the health care system in different ways, but we have limited knowledge of how these pathways relate to outcomes and resource use. This project maps patterns of health care utilisation across primary and specialist care, and examines how these relate to patient outcomes, costs, and adherence to national guidelines. The aim is to identify where care adds value, where it may fall short, and how services can be better aligned with patient needs and evidence-based practice.

Innovation projects

PREVENT-ECOPD

Product + service innovation project, 2025-2026

Partners: Vitalthings AS

Phase 1 (hospital-based monitoring):
Patients admitted with COPD exacerbations represent a high-risk group with substantial variation in clinical course and recovery. This phase examines the feasibility and clinical relevance of continuous, contactless respiratory monitoring in hospital using the Guardian M10 monitor, and explores how early physiological patterns relate to short-term outcomes after admission. The aim is to generate clinically useful insights to inform the design of subsequent home-based monitoring and follow-up strategies.

Phase 2 (home-based follow-up after discharge):
Around one third of patients admitted with COPD exacerbations are readmitted within 30 days of discharge. This phase explores whether contactless, home-based monitoring after hospitalisation can support earlier clinical response and help prevent avoidable readmissions. The project focuses on feasibility, patient pathways, and potential effects on readmissions and recovery in routine care.

AsthmaTrack

Service innovation project, 2025

Partners: Helseplattformen AS

This project studies whether digital outpatient follow-up at the outpatient clinic at St. Olav’s Hospital can improve management of severe asthma and reduce the need for unplanned care.

Read more about the project here.

Other projects

Gut microbiome and lung health

Timespan: 2025-2028

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Lung function catch-up

Timespan: 2024-