معرفی
Toomas Timpka is Professor of Social Medicine and Public Health at Linköping University's Faculty of Medicine, where he leads the Athletics Research Center (ARC) and conducts research in viral epidemiology and sports epidemiology. With a medical degree from Karolinska Institutet and a doctorate in medical informatics from Linköping University, he has been actively researching and teaching since the late 1990s.
His primary research interests include epidemiological detection, prediction and control of viral infections, as well as sports injury prevention and safety promotion. He has led research on information systems for epidemiological monitoring since 2005 and coordinated the Athletics Research Center since 2008, which was formally designated as a multidisciplinary center encompassing all three faculties at Linköping University in 2014.
His recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on athlete mental health, injury prevention mechanisms, pandemic response evaluation, and the intersection of digital health with sports medicine. Key themes across his work include health disparities in international athletics, mental health consequences of abuse in sports, and real-time evaluation of vaccination programs.
- Award for young researchers from American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 1986
- Awards from Swedish Association for Medical Informatics 1986 and 1989
- Bud Lawson Award for international research results from LiU's Faculty of Technology 1992
- Gold medal for best scientific article at MedInfo 1998 in Seoul, Korea
- Best presentation at Safety 2008 in Merida, Mexico
Professor Timpka has secured significant research funding including SEK 16 million from the Swedish Research Council for real-time evaluation of Covid-19 vaccination (2021-2026), SEK 20 million from the Swedish Agency for Civil Protection for infectious disease control infrastructure, and multiple grants from Vinnova and EU research programs. He serves as Chairman of the Medical Committee at the Swedish Athletics Federation and as Associate Editor for Sports Medicine at the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports (JSAMS).
His research group at the Athletics Research Center conducts international studies on athlete health, including work commissioned by World Athletics for major championships, and has produced notable findings on the relationship between sexual abuse and suicidal thoughts among elite athletes.
