Helle Terkildsen Maindal

Helle Terkildsen Maindal is Professor in the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University, Denmark, specializing in health promotion interventions for populations at risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Her research integrates equity perspectives, organizational health literacy, and systems thinking within community and primary care settings.

Education

• PhD in Health Promotion and Prevention (2009)

Her research focuses on lifespan health interventions targeting gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and obesity through interdisciplinary approaches. Key themes include stigma mitigation in healthcare, municipal health promotion systems, and cross-sectoral collaboration between civil society and clinical settings. She employs mixed-methods designs emphasizing real-world implementation contexts.

Recent publications demonstrate growing emphasis on ethical dimensions of specialized care, international comparative analyses of diabetes risk heterogeneity, and critical examinations of healthcare resource distribution. Her work increasingly incorporates implementation science frameworks to address equity gaps in preventive services.

Scientific Recognition

• Faculty TIER award (Thinker/Expert in Residence) 2024
• JCD-prisen 2021: Årets vejleder (Supervisor of the Year)

She leads 25 research projects since 2012 including major initiatives like Escape from inequity in health (2024-ongoing) and the Development Center for Health Literacy (2024-2026). Her grant portfolio demonstrates sustained funding for diabetes prevention programs and health literacy interventions, often involving municipal partnerships and cross-institutional collaborations with Steno Diabetes Centre Copenhagen.

As active committee member for Public Health in Central Denmark Region and Forum for Dialog om Sundhed i Dagligvarebranchen, she bridges research with policy implementation through knowledge translation activities and stakeholder engagement platforms.