Charlotte Overgaard is the new head of the Health Promotion Unit at SDU in Esbjerg

By Tomas Homburg, thomburg@health.sdu.dk, 6/4/2024

Charlotte Overgaard has been employed as a professor in Esbjerg for two years, but already has a large network in the area. Her research is about how to develop, test, evaluate and implement effective health interventions to improve human health and well-being. She is an expert in research collaboration with municipalities and in cross-disciplinary projects that bring many partners from the health sector, the school sector, the elderly area, university colleges, NGOs and private companies together in the work of finding solutions to current problems.

She has a close collaboration with Esbjerg Hospital, which uses Charlotte Overgaard's expertise to support research in various departments in relation to the hospital's relatively new status as part of the University Hospital of Southern Denmark. A job that she still handles.

Charlotte Overgaard is also chair of the board of studies for SDU's bachelor's and master's degree programmes in public health. She is involved in a revision of the Master's degree programme at Campus Esbjerg and has a particular focus on how the programme can increase collaboration with local municipalities, NGOs, institutions and companies that need the students' skills.

When she was employed at Aalborg University, Charlotte Overgaard's research team already had a close and cross-disciplinary collaboration with many different actors on research projects, and this is the work that she continues with in South Jutland. She is already involved in one project with Hospital Sønderjylland and in another with Hospital Lillebælt, Vejle, and the surrounding municipalities on how to build a collaboration on research in rehabilitation across sectors.

Currently, she is also busy with applications for fund money for a cross-cutting effort between birthing centres and municipalities on vulnerable pregnant women, where various public and private actors will work together for the benefit of the pregnant women.

All in all, this is what Charlotte Overgaard is really good at: Launching cross-disciplinary, innovative projects that are both efficient and sustainable in the organizations in which they will operate.

Professor Charlotte Overgaard takes over the position as head of the Health Promotion Unit from Professor Pernille Tanggaard Andersen, who has become head of department at SDU.