Annika Bay

Annika Bay is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Nursing at Umeå University, Sweden, with a joint clinical appointment at the Heart Center, Region Västerbotten. She holds a unique dual role combining academic leadership with clinical care for patients with congenital heart defects. Her primary affiliations include the Department of Nursing at Umeå University and operational roles in regional healthcare.

• Education: Doctoral degree from Umeå University (2018) with a thesis titled "Being physically active as an adult with congenital heart disease"

Her research focuses on reproductive/sexual health and physical activity in adults with congenital heart disease. Current projects investigate maternal complications during pregnancy, breastfeeding outcomes, and assisted reproductive technologies. She supervises two doctoral students and collaborates nationally with institutions like Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet. Key themes in her work include patient-reported outcomes, multidisciplinary care, and translational research bridging clinical practice and academia.

Recent publications (2024) highlight epidemiological studies on pregnancy outcomes in women with congenital heart disease, leveraging register-based data for population-level insights. Earlier work (2017-2018) explored psychological and behavioral aspects of physical activity in this patient group, using mixed-methods approaches.

• Grants & Collaborations: Active in national research networks addressing cardiovascular nursing challenges
• Labs/Teams: Part of Umeå's interdisciplinary research group including nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, and cardiologists