Helena Backman

Helena Backman is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, affiliated with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Örebro University Hospital. Her clinical expertise centers on diabetes in pregnancy, particularly gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), with a focus on maternal healthcare and obstetric outcomes.

• Education: PhD in 2012 from Örebro University on GDM.

Research highlights include leading the CDC4G study on GDM diagnostic thresholds, co-founding the international DPSG (Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group), and contributing to the COPE study on SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy. Her work spans clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and lifestyle risk factors in antenatal care.

Recent publications focus on GDM treatment efficacy, glycemic variability, ethnic disparities, and long-term maternal-fetal outcomes. She supervises two doctoral students (Malin Ugarph-Edfeldt, Inga-Ros Valgeirsdottir) and co-supervises Hanna Östling. Collaborations include Professor David Simmons (Western University, Sydney) and Danish research groups.