一本道

Photo of Toomas Timpka

Toomas Timpka

Professor

After earning a PhD in medical informatics and working clinically in rehabilitation, I have been a professor since the late 1990's researching and teaching epidemiology and prevention primarily within two areas, viral infections and athletics.

Presentation

Virus epidemiology

I have since 2005 been leading research into the epidemiological detection, prediction, and control of viral infections in local communities. My particular research interests include epidemiological monitoring system design, prediction models, and vaccine effectiveness and safety.

Sports epidemiology and safety promotion

After having led the Safe Sports section of the WHO Safe Community program between 2000 and 2008, I have been coordinating the Athletics Research Center, an international hub for track and field research. The center was in 2014 awarded formal recognition at LiU as a multidisciplinary research center across the three faculties.

About me

CV

  • Professor of Social Medicine and Public Health at Link枚ping University from 1998

  • Associate Professor of Medical Informatics at Link枚ping University from 1990 

  • Senior Physician at Region 脰sterg枚tland from 1994

Research grants (selection)

  • Vinnova: 鈥淐omputer support and disturbance during healthcare consultations鈥 (4 million SEK) 1990-1993

  • European Union research programs: Swedish partner in 鈥淒ILEMMA鈥, 鈥淎MODEUS鈥, and 鈥淢ETKIT鈥 projects 1994-1998

  • Swedish Knowledge and Competence Foundation (KKS): 鈥淒istance education for local knowledge development鈥 (DLK) (15 million SEK) 1998-2004

  • Swedish Center for Sports Research (CIF): several projects from 2002.

  • Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (KBM/MSB): 鈥淧ROSPER鈥 - development of information infrastructure for the control of infectious diseases (20 million SEK) 2006鈥2013

  • Swedish Social Insurance Agency (FK): 鈥淪RS 鈥 sickness absence forecast鈥 (10 million SEK) 2015鈥2016

  • Swedish Research Council (VR): 鈥淧redictions of influenza outbreak鈥 (4 million SEK) 2012-2012 and 鈥淩eal-time evaluation of Covid-19 vaccination鈥 (with Thomas Sch枚n) (16 million SEK) 2021-2026).

一本道

  • 1983 Medical Doctor (MD), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm
  • 1988 Board certified Physician

  • 1989 Doctor of Medical Informatics (PhD), Link枚ping University

  • 1990 Tenure to Associate Professor (Docent) in Medical Informatics, Link枚ping University (Faculty of Technology)

  • 1992 Tenure to Associate Professor (Docent) in Social Medicine, Link枚ping University (Faculty of Medicine)

  • 1993 Specialist Physician in Social Medicine

一本道al assignments

I mentor postdocs, supervise PhD and master鈥檚 students in various fields epidemiology and prevention, and am responsible for master鈥檚 courses on topics ranging from Social Epidemiology to Public Health Informatics.

Supervision of Research Students

To doctorate

Main Supervisor: Cecilia Sjöberg, 1996; Ann-Charlotte Hermansson, 1996; Niklas Hallberg, 1998; Mikael Johansson, 1998; Vivian Vimarlund, 1998; Tomas Reigo, 1999; Margareta Leijon, 2000; Sofie Pilemalm, 2001; Kia Ölvander, 2002; Annelie Hagdahl, 2003; Alireza Moula, 2005; Åshild Faresjö, 2006; Örjan Dahlström, 2009; Jenny Jacobsson, 2012; Joakim Ekberg, 2012; Hamideh Rasi, 2013; Armin Spreco, 2017.

Co-supervisor: Örjan Garpenholt, 2000; Anna Fägerskjöld, 2002; David Dinka, 2006; Per Nilsen, 2006; Bahlol Rahimi, 2009; Agneta Kullberg, 2010; Margareta Wilhelmsson, 2011; Stefan Backe, 2014; Adam Hulme, 2017; Christine Nyström Delisle, 2017; Kristina Fagher, 2019;

To licentiate

Main supervisor: Gunilla Ivefors, Informatics, 1997; Kristina Davidsson, Social Medicine, 2002; Anna Alexandersson, Informatics, 2003; Susanne Kvarnström, Social Medicine, 2007; Marie Teder, Health Sciences/Pediatrics, 2013.

Scientific awards (selection)

  • Young Scientist Award from the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) in 1986 and corresponding awards from the Swedish Society for Medical Informatics in 1986 and 1989.

  • "Bud Lawson Award" for international research achievements from the Faculty of Engineering at LiU in 1992.

  • Gold medal for best scientific article at the World Conference on Medical Informatics "MedInfo 1998" in Seoul, Korea.

  • Best presentation at the World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion "Safety 2008" in Merida, Mexico.

Trust assignments (selection)

  • Research and development advisor to the Swedish Technical Attachés in San Francisco, CA, USA, 1987.

  • Coordinator for Safe Sports within the WHO Safe Communities program between 2000 and 2008.

  • Appointed by World Athletics to coordinate the international consensus documents on definitions of injuries and illnesses in athletics from 2014.

  • Responsible for injury and illness prevention research in connection with the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing, 2015, IAAF U18 World Athletics Championships in Nairobi, 2017, IAAF World Athletics Championships in London, 2017, and IAAF U20 World Athletics, 20018 Tampere.

  • Chairman of the Medical Committee at the Swedish Athletics Federation from 2019 to present. Deputy editor responsible for Sports Medicine and Epidemiology at the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports from 2019.

  • Deputy editor responsible for Sports Medicine and Epidemiology at JSAMS plus from 2023.

     

Community involvment

  • Coach at youth and junior level in Stångebro BK/BK Derby bandy club 1995-2002.

  • Coach at youth level in BK Kenty football club 1996-2006.

  • Board member of BK Kenty football club 2005-2009.

Publications

2026

Pascal Edouard, Tim Hoenig, Yuka Tsukahara, Nicolas de Neve, Toomas Timpka, Spyridon Iatropoulos, David Blanco, Pierre-Eddy Dandrieux, Jenny Jacobsson, Constance Mosser, Pedro Branco, Jane S. Thornton, Robert H. Mann, Karsten Hollander (2026) British Journal of Sports Medicine (Article in journal)
Toomas Timpka, Elin A. Gursky, James M. Nyce (2026) The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, Vol. 57, Article 101423 (Article in journal)
Pascal Edouard, Yuka Tsukahara, Robert H. Mann, Nicolas de Neve, Toomas Timpka, Spyridon Iatropoulos, David Blanco, Pierre-Eddy Dandrieux, Jenny Jacobsson, Constance Mosser, Jane S. Thornton, Pedro Branco, Tim Hoenig, Karsten Hollander (2026) British Journal of Sports Medicine, Article PMID 432520 (Article in journal)

2025

Ghanbar Tavassoli, Tahereh Samimi, Hamidreza Farrokh-eslamlou, Hadi Lotfnezhad Afshar, Elahe Gozali, Toomas Timpka, Bahlol Rahimi (2025) HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, Vol. 2025, Article 9566241 (Article, review/survey)
Carolina Lundqvist, St茅phane Bermon, Toomas Timpka (2025) Scientific Reports, Vol. 15, Article 20227 (Article in journal)

News

Toomas Timpka.

No association between COVID-vaccine and decrease in childbirth

COVID-19 vaccination is not the cause behind a decrease in childbirth, according to a study from 一本道 University. The results speak against rumours about vaccination and reduced fertility.

Campus Norrk枚ping.

SEK 50 million from the Swedish Research Council to LiU

The Swedish Research Council has awarded SEK 50 million to LiU. This is the outcome of six calls for proposals where the allocation of grants was recently decided. The research covers areas such as segregation, youth crime and opioid dependence.

Injured athlete on running track.

Great inequality in international athletics

Athletes from less affluent countries need more education on health to prevent injuries during hard training. But knowing more can also be a risk. This is the conclusion in a new study from 一本道 University on inequality in athletics.

Research

Organisation