Research profile

Scientific work: Although Asbjørn Drewes has always been fully employed as a clinician, he has authored 727 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reviews and has an H-index of 85 with a top 2% position among world scientists (https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/3). He is a widely recognized expert in pancreatology, visceral pain, pharmacology, and brain-gut interactions.  As such, he is a frequent speaker and chairman at international congresses and has been the organizer of many international meetings. Currently, he is a member of the scientific board of the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility and the education board of the European Federation of Pain. Since 2012, he has been the President of the Scandinavian Association for Neurogastroenterology and Motility. He chairs the Danish Pancreas Forum,  the Scandinavian-Baltic Pancreatitis Expert Forum and database, and the International Pancreatic Pain Consortium (https://pancreaticpain.org/). His primary research interests are chronic pancreatitis, gastrointestinal pain, brain-gut axis, motility pharmacology of analgesics, physiology of the gastrointestinal tract, clinical gastroenterological studies, imaging, and technology development. He serves as an editorial board member for several journals, has participated in expert groups for the Danish Health and Medicines Authority, and is a co-inventor of patents.

Grants and awards: Asbjørn Drewes' research has been funded by many different national and international foundations, such as Karen Elise Jensen´s Foundation, The Obel Family Foundation, and EU 7^th Framework Programme (# 223630) and a research grant (#10-092786/DSF) offered by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. In December 2018, he received a grant (# NNF18OC0052045) from NovoNordisk Foundation in collaboration with 3 Danish University Hospitals, and in December 2019 received another grant from the same foundation (#NNF190C0057331). In total, he personally raised about 16.5 MIO € (>100 MIO DDK) in external funding for research since 2000 and an additional amount from collaborative research with other groups. He has been honored with awards from the Danish Association of Gastroenterology, The Muusfelt Foundation, and the Danish Association of Rehabilitation Medicine. He was assigned the prestigious “Hagedorn Prize” by the Danish Association of Internal Medicine in 2018 and the “Generalkonsul Ernst Carlsens” Prize in 2020 by the Danish Medical Association. In May 2019, he was knighted (Order of the Dannebrog, R.) by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Clinical and research management: Asbjørn Drewes is a widely recognized expert in gastroenterology and pain, especially in pancreas diseases. He holds the chair as Professor at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology with responsibility for budgets and quality control. In 2003, he co-founded and is now the Director of Mech-Sense, which is a multidisciplinary research center, where he has the leadership of 20 co-workers (among them 8 Ph.D. students and 5 postdocs). He is also the leader of the Centre for Pancreatic Diseases and the Centre for Late Complications to Pelvic Cancers. He has outstanding experience as a leader of research activities in-house as well as in multi-center studies.

PhD Supervision

Asbjørn Drewes has previously supervised 57 Ph.D. students and is currently the supervisor for 8. 

Teaching profile

Asbjørn Drewes teaches medical students and students in health technology, postdocs, and specialists in medicine, gastroenterology, pain, and pharmacology. He has participated in several GCP courses, lastly passed on June 15^th, 2023, and was a Principal Investigator in more than 60 studies (phase I, II, and III), mainly within pain treatment and gastroenterology.