Alexandra Havdahl is the scientific director of the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), one of the largest genotyped cohorts in the world with more than 100,000 children and families followed pregnancy. She also leads the PsychGen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, a cross-insitutional research environment at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, consisting of 30 researchers, postdocs and PhD students.

Havdahl has a multidisciplinary background as a clinical psychologist with extensive expertise in developmental science, epidemiology, genetics and causal inference methods. She has led large research projects funded by a range of national and international funding bodies, including the European Union, and UK Research and Innovation projects and SFARI. She is in the Executive Committee of a global Within Family Consortium of more than 20 cohorts, and coordinate the MoBa contribution to several meta-analyses in other consortia, including the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and the EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) Consortium.

Havdahl has a strong publication record, and was this year ranked as the 25th most productive scientists in Norway (2nd of women) (https://www.khrono.no/slik-klarer-de-a-publisere-mest-i-norge/1009889). Many of her research articles have significant scientific and societal impact. For example, she is one of the three main authors of a Lancet Commission on autism, a highly influential, interdisciplinary effort to tackle complex global health challenges.