My research is patient-centered with a focus on prevention, i.e. preventive measures. It focuses on improving patient outcomes and facilitates so-called patient progress, i.e. patient's recovery process, for the benefit of the individual patient and for society. Clinical research of patients with addiction and abuse is multidisciplinary and involves many disciplines and staff groups. It includes in particular alcohol, drugs and tobacco, but also other areas.

New methods and treatment programs as well as prevention are important parts of the research for this population. In addition appears the cross-border health gain research related to improvement of the so-called illness (such as smoking, obesity, malnutrition and lack of physical activity) and the so-called comorbidity (chronic medical illnesses that occur simultaneously with the treated temporary, primary disease).

In normal "healthy" state body functions seem to function in balance. When we become ill and must undergo a treatment program there are higher demands on the various body functions and this balance is broken. When illness and comorbidity appears, we have not the extra reserves that could meet the higher requirements. Therefore patients with illness and co-morbidity develop more problems, heavier patient progress, poorer quality of life and premature death compared with patients with the same primary disease, but without illness and comorbidity.

Research efforts are based on the patients has great unused potential for health and that many different kinds of treatments can be combined. The studies include both patients with an addiction that is also suffering from poor health and comorbidity, and psychiatric, medical and surgical patients with co-dependency and addiction. By examining the combined health-enhancing treatments, it is possible to discern and implement the programs that give the best effect.