SSM ECRs featuring… Moritz Oberndorfer!
Moritz Oberndorfer is a PhD Student at the Medical University of Vienna, currently working as a visiting postgraduate researcher at University of Glasgow and University of Edinburgh.
 | Moritz Oberndorfer Medical University of Vienna (currently a visiting postgraduate researcher at PhD Student SSM member since: 2022 SSM participation: 2020 ASM, 2021 ASM Topics of interest: social epidemiology, health inequalities, health geography |
What inspired you to pursue a career in public health?
Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve wanted to understand why incredible inequalities in living conditions exist around the globe and what can be done about them. This led me to enrol in cultural anthropology, sociology, and economics undergraduate programmes. However, it was only during my master’s in socioeconomics when I first got in touch with public health and especially social epidemiology. I was immediately captivated. The fact that indicators of one’s position in a social structure are among the most powerful explanations for why some have better health and live longer lives than others was the answer to the “so what?” question I didn’t know I was looking for. Once you’ve seen the socioeconomic gradient in health you can’t unsee it.
What excites you about working in research now?
Working together with so many kind, bright, and inspiring people from different backgrounds who give their best trying to overcome intellectual challenges and make the world a better place. Research would be pretty boring and meaningless without them and the goals we share.
What area of social medicine/public health are you interested in?
To me, the universality of the socioeconomic gradient in health across time, space, and even some species is intriguing. Although that’s a question I likely won’t be able to answer, I would really like to know whether the socioeconomic gradient in health is inevitable among humans. I am therefore interested in the conditions – particularly socioeconomic environments – wherein we can observe a steeper or shallower gradient. Apart from that, I am easily fascinated with most areas of social epidemiology.
Can you tell us a bit about a project you’re working on now?
The project I am currently most excited about is a side project of a side project: “the LoCo (Lockdown cohort)-effect”. It’s the counterintuitive possibility that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we might observe better health outcomes in pregnant women and their babies conceived during the pandemic – at least for some months. We had this idea while trying to solve some analytic challenges in estimating the pandemic’s effect on pregnancy and birth outcomes in Scotland and decided that the potential LoCo-effect is worth pursuing on its own.
What do you hope this will lead to?
Hopefully an opportunity to do more research on this idea! If the LoCo-effect is indeed confirmed by data that will only become available in the future, I hope it will inform future research including cohorts born during the pandemic, as well as decision-making in health and educational systems.
Bonus question from SSM member Flo Martin: What is the most valuable piece of advice you have received from a colleague during your career?
The most valuable piece of advice I have ever received is that there are contributions to health inequalities research that are much bigger than all the papers we can publish during our career. I think this advice referred to creating and nurturing research infrastructure and environment which future research can build upon.
(And: “Don’t forget to enjoy the whiskey while you are in Scotland!”)
To keep up to date with Moritz, follow him on Twitter @MOOberndorfer or get in touch via email.
SSM ECR features is a blog series that celebrates early career researchers. Each month we meet a member we admire, learn more about their work and find out what and who inspires them. To find out more visit socsocmed.org.uk/blog or email ecr.ssm@gmail.com.