Interest sparked during medical school
Holdø became interested in the topic of addiction when she worked at a drug abuse institution while attending medical school at the University of Oslo. She contacted Jørgen G. Bramness, professor and Director of Research at SERAF to enquire about writing her student thesis on the topic. While studying medicine, Holdø spent one year at SERAF doing research on sleep medication. This spring she graduated as a medical doctor and decided to pursue a Ph.D on the subject at SERAF.
- I am researching the use of prescription medication given to children under the age of three, specifically the use of sleep medications. I am focusing on a drug called Vallergan which has been frequently given to children under the age of three in Norway, she says.
Adults in small sizes
Holdø explains that the use of sleeping medications is very frequent in very young children in Norway, without proven efficacy of the drugs. It is even discouraged to prescribe them to children under 2 years of age because of safety issues. Still, children have ended up being treated as adults in small sizes. Given that their bodies are composed differently, they have other diseases, and the fact that they are constantly expanding and developing, means there are other requirements to the medications used.
- It is important to find out more about the background and what it really is we are talking about. Moreover, as there has been little research on the use and efficacy of medicines for children, we need more information about this issue, she explains.
Holdø is also interested in sleep research and hope we will know more on this topic in the next decades.
- In ten years’ time I hope that we have made progress in adapting medicines to the target audience. So-called "designer drugs" are already heading into other medical fields, she says.
Important characteristics of researchers are curiosity and patience
The PhD-student thinks a good researcher should enjoy exploring how everything fits together, as well as going in-depth and in detail. They should be someone who is both curious and patient, and who will be able to engage themselves, and be able to work towards a long-term goal.
- Also, one should be honest, for ultimately it is perhaps only you who can guarantee that the process is done correctly. And it doesn’t hurt if you love to convey knowledge, the Ph.D student says with a smile.
- If I had been doing something other than medicine, I think that maybe I'd been a teacher, for example in social studies or art.