Toppforsk@IE: Center of Health Equity Analytics

Center for Health Equity Analytics (CHAIN)

Toppforsk@IE research group: Explaining and promoting health equity

 

Around the world, education and health shape each other in powerful ways. People with more years of schooling tend to live longer, earn more, and enjoy better overall well‑being. Yet the same relationship also produces deep inequalities: those with fewer educational opportunities often miss out on the conditions that make good health possible. These disparities translate into lost human potential, lower productivity, and uneven social development.

Despite major progress in global schooling, inequalities are actually widening—both between and within countries. The gaps are also increasingly gendered. In many low‑income regions, girls still face barriers to even basic education, while in several high‑income countries, boys are now the ones falling behind. The COVID‑19 pandemic only magnified these divides, disrupting learning for millions of children and accelerating long‑term inequalities in both education and health.

If these trends continue unchecked, the consequences will reach far beyond individual well‑being: societies may find it harder to respond to future crises, drive innovation, or achieve sustainable development.

This is the challenge that CHAIN — the Centre for Health Equity Analytics — aims to tackle.

Activities

Activities

Activities

24-25th of February: Workshop "Explaining and Promoting Health Equity"

24-25th of February: Workshop "Explaining and Promoting Health Equity"

Tuesday, February 24th, room L505 Akrinn, Kalvskinnet

08:30-09:00 Registration, mingling

09:00 Opening: Hello to everone

09:15-10:50 Lectures

  • 09:15-10:15 Foundational Lecture 1: "Centre for Health Equity Analytics (CHAIN)" Terje Eikemo (NTNU), Slides (pdf)

  • 10:30-11:30 Foudational Lecture 2: "Evaluating policy impact on health inequalities" -  Marta Blangiardo (Imperial College London), Slides

11:30 - 13:00 Lunch and poster session for master/PhD students. Posters: Miguel Ángel Beltrán Sanchez, Sindre Johan Cottis HoffPilar Vidaurre i TeixidoTiago Pereira

13:00 -14:30 Research presentations (20 min talk + 10 min discussion)

  • 13:00-13:30 "Causal inference for health equity research", Emilie Courtin (digital, London School of Economics and Political Science), Slides (pdf)
  • 13:30-14:00 "Measuring Social Inequalities in Health: Indicators and Data", Insa Backhaus (NTNU), Slides (pdf)
  • 14:00-14:30 "The gender and education gap in self-rated health trends in subnational Europe", Andrea Riebler (NTNU), Slides (pdf)

15:00 - 16:30 Discussion time (involve relevant people)

19:00 Dinner in Una Pizzeria Solsiden

Wednesday, February 25th, room L505 Akrinn, Kalvskinnet

08:30-09:00 Coffee and mingling

09:00 -10:30 Research presentations (20 min talk + 10 min discussion)

  • 09:00-09:30 "Prevalence Mapping in Low- and Middle-Income Countries", Geir-Arne Fuglstad (NTNU), Slides (pdf)
  • 09:30-10:00 "Employment history and health in Europe - cumulative disadvantages and vulnerabilities", Hanno Hoven (NTNU), Slides (pdf)
  • 10:00-10:30 "Does Immigration Threaten an Egalitarian Society? An Empirical Test with New Data, 1990-2021", Indra de Soysa (NTNU), Slides (pdf)

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00 - 12:00 Foundational lecture: "Poststratification and complex survey analyses", Miguel Ángel Martínez Beneito (University of Valencia), Slides (pdf)

12:00 - 13:00 Lunch

13:00 - 14:00 Foundational lecture: "Getting Better: The Policy and Politics of Reducing Health Inequalities" - Clare Bambra (Newcastle University), Slides (pdf)

14:00 - 15:00 Open discussion: The way forward, visibility

15:00 - 15:15 Closing of the workshop

About us

About us

This Toppforsk@IE research group establishes a critical link between members of the social science group at the Department of Sociology and Political Science and members of the statistics group at Department of Mathematical Sciences - an integration that has been largely overlooked but is essential for advancing our understanding of global health equity. Our group also forms the core of the Center of Health Equity Analytics.  We aim to investigate the determinants of health inequity, generate deeper insights into its underlying causes, examine spatial variations in health equity across multiple scales, and advocate for targeted policy reforms that promote fairer and more equitable health outcomes. 

Publications

Publications

News

News

PhD and Postdoc positions announced

The Department of Mathematical Sciences has announced two PhD and one postdoctoral fellowship:

PhD fellowships

Postdoctoral fellowship

The deadline is 8. April 2026. Please take contact with us in case you are interested to work with us. 

20 Mar 2026