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Minutes of the Danish Epidemiological Society (DES) General Assembly

23 June 2026, Copenhagen

1. Election of Chair and Minute Taker

• Caroline Klint Johannesen was elected as Chair of the General Assembly.
• Sandra Feodor Nilsson was elected as Secretary.

2. Chair’s Report, presented by Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen

• Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen presented the Chair’s report.
• The full Chair’s report is included below.

3. Committee Reports

• International collaborations, presented by Reimar W. Thomsen
  • Reimar W. Thomsen reported on ongoing collaboration with international epidemiological societies, including the German Society for Epidemiology. Efforts are ongoing to strengthen collaboration across countries, including a new series of international meetings aimed at increasing exchange and cooperation between epidemiological societies.
  • A Letter to the Editor initiative was also mentioned. Other national epidemiological societies had proposed a joint initiative to strengthen shared epidemiological positions on important public health issues.
  • Reimar W. Thomsen also reported that DES was represented at NordicEpi 2026 (Nordic Conference of Epidemiology and Register-Based Health Research), held in Tromsø on 3-5 June 2026. DES was represented by Reimar W. Thomsen. Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen and Stine Schramm contributed as members of the scientific committee.
  • A question was raised regarding DES membership fees to international associations, and it was clarified that DES currently does not pay membership fees to the International Epidemiological Association.

• Social media and communication, presented by Amalie Timmermann
  • Amalie Timmermann presented updates on DES communication activities. DES has gained a growing number of followers on LinkedIn, where the society communicates broadly about epidemiology, including the “Epidemiologist of the Month” and “Data of the Month” initiatives.
  • The purpose of “Data of the Month” is to increase awareness of relevant data sources for epidemiological research. Members are encouraged to contact the Board if they know of data resources that could be featured. It was noted that such resources should ideally also be shared on the DES website.
  • Thorkild IA Sørensen suggested that DES could also highlight existing cohort profiles and related publications, for example resources developed in Aarhus. Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen noted that the Board is exploring whether updated cohort information is available or whether most available descriptions are older.

4. Submitted Proposals

• No proposals had been submitted.

5. Accounts and Membership Fee, presented by Treasurer Frida Richter Hansen

• Frida Richter Hansen presented the accounts for 2025.

Income: DKK 61,200
Expenses: DKK 415,072.50
Deficit/surplus for the period: DKK  -353,872.50
Capital: DKK  353,510.23

• The accounts were reviewed and discussed at the meeting.
• Thorkild IA Sørensen asked how the Board envisages the future use of DES capital and whether there is a long-term financial strategy for the society.
• A discussion followed regarding the future use of DES capital, much of it originating from the surplus generated by NordicEpi. Thorkild IA Sørensen suggested that part of the surplus could be used to support additional scientific activities, such as a follow-up meeting to the Bayesian workshop with invited international experts.
• Members also discussed the appropriate level of financial reserves. Henrik Støvring suggested maintaining a buffer of approximately DKK 200,000–250,000. Katrine Grau noted that the Board had previously discussed returning part of the surplus to members through reduced meeting fees as we did for the winter meeting 2025 and agreed that maintaining such a buffer was sensible.
• It was suggested that the Board assess the financial reserve needed to cover cancellation of a major meeting, for example similar to the meeting cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board will follow up on this.

6. Elections

• Not up for election: Frida Richter Hansen, Reimar W. Thomsen, and Sandra Feodor Nilsson.
• Not eligible for re-election: Katrine Grau and Stine Schramm stepped down as they have already been re-elected twice and can therefore not be re-elected.
• Up for election: Amalie Timmermann and Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen.
• Candidates for Board membership:
  • Sören Möller, Professor, University of Southern Denmark
  • Danni Chen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Aarhus University
• Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen stood for re-election as Chair. As there were no opposing candidates, she was re-elected by unanimous approval.
• As of 23 June 2026, the DES Board consists of Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen, Amalie Timmermann, Reimar W. Thomsen, Frida Richter Hansen, Sandra Feodor Nilsson, Sören Möller, and Danni Chen.
• The Board will convene in the near future to assign roles and responsibilities.
• Auditors
  • Henrik Støvring was up for re-election as auditor and was re-elected.
  • Lau Casper Thygesen was not up for election this year.

7. Appointment of Committees

• No new committees were established.

8. Any Other Business

• Katrine Grau was thanked for her dedicated contributions to DES.
• Thorkild IA Sørensen raised the topic of recent political developments, including the new Danish government and upcoming public health legislation. He suggested that DES could play a role in promoting evidence-based discussions on future public health initiatives.
  • Smoking and tobacco control were highlighted as particularly important public health topics, especially in relation to social inequality. The Board agreed to discuss how DES may contribute to future public health discussions.
• Katrine Grau proposed that DES could consider publishing broader evidence-based statements or position papers, with input from members across fields. It was noted that such activities could place a substantial workload on the Board.