New professor researches sex chromosomes and disease
Consultant and PhD Anne Skakkebæk is the new clinical professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine. Her research focuses on genetic disorders of sex development and on how sex chromosomes affect health and disease.
Anne Skakkebæk investigates how variations in the number of sex chromosomes may increase the risk of conditions including infertility, metabolic diseases and psychiatric disorders. Her research has a particular focus on sex chromosome disorders such as Turner syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, Triple X syndrome and XYY syndrome.
“My aim is for the research ultimately to improve patient care. This requires us to gain a better understanding of the genetic and biological mechanisms involved and to translate this knowledge into improved diagnostics, clinical management and counselling,” says Anne Skakkebæk.
Among other activities, the new clinical professor heads the project Genomic Natural History of Sex Chromosome Aneuploidies, in which she is investigating how variations in the number of sex chromosomes affect development and disease risk from fetal life into early childhood.
Anne Skakkebæk qualified as a doctor in 2004, obtained her PhD in 2013 and is a specialist in clinical genetics. The professorship is supported by Aarhus University Hospital and the Central Denmark Region.
Contact
Clinical Professor and Consultant Anne Skakkebæk
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine, and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Clinical Genetics
Telephone: +45 27 21 29 98
Email: asj@clin.au.dk