Cathrine Axfors

Appointment Term: 

1 Jan 2021 to 31 Dec 2022

Background and Research Interests: 

As a medical doctor, the vast field of meta-research caught my interest since it combines a passionate curiosity for the scientific process with empirical work that aims to improve that process – to the ultimate benefit of patients and clinicians.
My main postdoctoral project aims to evaluate research based on nationwide health registers, for example regarding causal inference methods, reporting biases, and transparency, in order to maximize the usefulness. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), I also cherish the opportunity to receive training in multiple meta-research areas, promote international collaborations, and develop pedagogical material. I’m the main administrator of the METRICS International Forum, our meta-research seminar series open to the scientific community (https://metrics.stanford.edu/events/series/metrics-international-seminar). Participating in Stanford University’s Postdoc Teaching Certificate Program, I’m co-teaching as a postdoctoral fellow instructor the graduate-level course “Meta-research: Appraising Research Findings, Bias, and Meta-analysis,” and will develop teaching material on science rigor and reproducibility for medical students and PhD students.

Personal Interests: 

I have a thing for long-distance exercise and adventure, on wheels, foot, skis, ice skates, with oars, or with fins. Like the rest of my family, I lack talent for ballgames and singing, but do both with much joy.