Interview with Jane Dahl Andersen, MD with specialty in Endocrinology and Internal Medicine at Lillebælt Hospital, Denmark

My name is Jane, I am a MD with specialty in Endocrinology and Internal medicine. My specific interest is in bone and calcium metabolism, in particular the rare disease OI. In the Bente Langdahl group at Aarhus University Hospital, DK, I had the opportunity to see OI patients in research projects and to some extent in the out clinic too.

However, I am now working in the southern part of Denmark, at Lillebælt Hospital with more general bone and calcium metabolism. But I still have a profound interest in OI and at the moment I am working with Lars Folkestad, on another OI project.

Who was behind the project?

The idea for this project arose at Merton College in Oxford, UK. I was at a Clinical Training course on Osteoporosis and other Metabolic Bone Diseases arranged by the Bone Research Society, having lunch with Bo Abrahamsen among other colleagues, back in April 2017. It seems a long time ago. The challenge has been that all involved authors have taken time out of their free time/ spare time as most of us working in the clinic, not full time researchers.

What was your research project about?

The project was built on an idea from clinical experience, a question arose: Is osteoarthritis (OA) more frequent in osteogenesis imperfecta? What is the risk of osteoarthritis in OI?

What was your most interesting findings?

We found that osteoarthritis is more frequent in OI and at a younger age, compared to the background population. Our findings are based on registers, which of course have some limitations. For sure more clinical studies need to be conducted, I still however, find it very satisfying, that my assumption from clinical work with OI is supported by the results of this project.