New centre to help parents with autoimmune diseases feel safe starting a family

What happens to the immune system of a pregnant woman taking immunosuppressive medication? Is the treatment safe for the baby?

These are among the questions that the new PREG-AID – Centre for Preconception and Pregnancy in Autoimmune Diseases – has been set up to answer.

The centre, the first of its kind in Denmark, has just been established with a grant from the Faculty of Health, and will bring together researchers and clinicians across five clinical specialties and three departments.

Working across disciplines and departments

Between 5 and 10 per cent of the world's population has an autoimmune disease, and the number is rising significantly — particularly among young women of reproductive age. In inflammatory bowel disease alone, there are seven million diagnosed patients, primarily in the Western world. At the same time, new and effective biological drugs are entering the market, but knowledge of their safety during pregnancy and the long-term consequences for the child remains limited.

"Every young woman or man with an autoimmune disease who wants to become a parent should be able to enter pregnancy with confidence, equipped with the right knowledge about their disease and treatment. That requires us to work across specialties and departments, pool the knowledge we already have, and fill the gaps where it is missing," says clinical associate professor Mette Julsgaard, Department of Clinical Medicine, director of PREG-AID.

At the heart of the centre's approach is interdisciplinary collaboration. Key researchers from gastroenterology, rheumatology, dermatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, biomedicine and public health are all part of the close-knit collaboration.

Many of the drugs used to treat autoimmune diseases cut across specialties and are used regardless of whether the patient has a bowel condition, a joint disease or a skin condition. This is also why the centre does not focus on a single disease group, but on autoimmune diseases broadly.

"There are researchers at Health with skills and expertise that could benefit all of us. It is about noticing each other and making use of the synergies that exist. I would very much like to hear from colleagues who think there might be scope for collaboration," says Mette Julsgaard.

Concrete focus on new drugs and children's health

One of the first major research projects under PREG-AID is a national study of a new class of biological medication used across gastroenterology, rheumatology and dermatology. The study will examine how the drug is metabolised in the body during pregnancy, whether it is transferred to the baby via the umbilical cord, and what this means for the child's immune system and development.

But the centre is also taking the long view. What happens to children who were exposed to immunosuppressive medication as foetuses when they reach school age? Are they hospitalised more often? Do they receive more diagnoses? The Danish health registers offer a unique opportunity to follow these children over decades.

For Mette Julsgaard, the overarching ambition is straightforward:

"My mantra is 'healthy mother, healthy baby'. We know that disease remission provides the best conditions for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy child. But we also need to know that the drugs we use to keep the disease in remission are safe for both mother and child," she says.

Broad collaboration locally, nationally and internationally

PREG-AID builds on an already established collaboration across Aarhus University and the departments of Aarhus University Hospital.

For Mette Julsgaard, broad collaboration is a prerequisite for making a real difference.

"Working across disciplines has been a thread running through my entire career. Through multicentre studies, we can generate the evidence needed to give our patients safe, evidence-based guidance during pregnancy," she says.

PREG-AID is one of the projects that the Faculty of Health has chosen to prioritise with strategic funding for the period 2026–2029. Dean Anne-Mette Hvas explains the rationale:

"We have chosen to support PREG-AID because the centre addresses a real and growing health challenge that requires us to think and work across specialties and departments. That is exactly the approach we want to promote at Health. We expect the centre to strengthen our research environment in women's health and to generate new knowledge that can benefit patients — not just here in Aarhus, but nationally and internationally," she says.

The centre will collaborate with other research environments at Health, including the newly established skin disease research centre DREAM, Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, and the Fertility Clinic Horsens – University Clinic AU.

Mette Julsgaard also has a long-standing collaboration with Uma Mahadevan, professor at the University of California and one of the world's leading experts in inflammatory bowel disease and pregnancy. Uma Mahadevan will take up an Honorary Skou Professorship in 2026 and will also become part of PREG-AID.

"Women everywhere deserve the best possible care during this vulnerable period. That requires international collaboration and a shared, scientifically grounded approach. I am proud to be working with Mette Julsgaard and Aarhus University on a project that will push boundaries for women with autoimmune diseases — in Denmark and globally," says Uma Mahadevan.