Asbjørn Hróbjartsson is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

medical researcher. He is Professor of

Evidence-Based Medicine Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...

and Clinical Research Methodology at the

University of Southern Denmark The University of Southern Denmark ( da, Syddansk Universitet, lit=South Danish University, abbr. SDU) is a university in Denmark that has campuses located in Southern Denmark and on Zealand. The university offers a number of joint programmes i ...

, as well as head of research at Odense University Hospital's Center for Evidence-Based Medicine. He is the former

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the Danish journal '' Bibliotek for Læger''. He is also affiliated with the Nordic Cochrane Centre in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ...

. He received his Ph.D. in June 2001 from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, with a thesis entitled ''Are placebo interventions associated with clinically important effects?'' He is best-known for a 2001 article he co-authored with Peter C. Gotzsche on the

placebo effect A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

. The article reviewed 114 studies comparing placebo treatment to no treatment, and concluded that placebos did not have clinically important effects for any condition, with the exception of self-reported

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

and other continuous subjective outcomes. He has also co-authored a subsequent paper on placebo effect research with Ted Kaptchuk and Franklin G. Miller.

References

Living people Danish medical researchers University of Southern Denmark faculty Cochrane Collaboration people University of Copenhagen alumni Placebo researchers Year of birth missing (living people) {{Denmark-med-bio-stub