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University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is a research University with its main campus in Odense on Funen and three regional campuses in the south of Denmark. There are five faculties comprising approx. 2,000 researchers and approx. 20,000 students distributed to 141 degree programs. SDU graduates approx. 5,200 students and 200 PhD students per year. SDU close collaborates with the Odense University Hospital and other key national and international health players.

SDU is represented by two senior researchers from the Department of Business and Management. Assoc. Prof. Anna Schneider-Kamp is an expert in qualitative health research and user involvement, with expertise in areas such as patient empowerment, patient pathways, and health technologies. She has pioneered a resource-based perspective on the construction of individual health. Prof. Søren Askegaard is an expert in health promotion, food culture, and the role of users in healthcare encounters. He focuses on non-reductionist perspectives in social research and biosemiotics.

Anna Schneider-Kamp is an Associate Professor of Health and Consumption and holds a PhD in Economics & Business Administration. Her main research interest is the empirical study and theorization of sociocultural determinants of health through a critical interdisciplinary perspective that is rooted in medical sociology. Anna aims to inform debates on individual and patient involvement in healthcare, to nuance the cultural understanding and differentiation behind health consumption narratives, and to uncover new health-related roles and practices of individuals and patients.

Assoc. Prof. Schneider-Kamp

Søren Askegaard is Professor of Consumption and Health at the University of Southern Denmark, his research is oriented towards the symbolism and practices pertaining to consumer culture. Current research activities are mainly going in two directions. One is derived from the research in health and food culture and addresses the role of users/consumers in the encounters in the healthcare sector, especially in light of the introduction of new (AI) technologies. The other stream of research draws on his interests in complexity and non-reductionist approaches in social research. It is an investigation of the biosocial Anthropos of consumer culture, drawing on Søren’s earlier investigation of the human being as a “homo desirans”, as well as complexity research and biosemiotics.

Prof. Søren Askegaard