Asgeir Helgason

Ásgeir R. Helgason (born 1957) is an Icelandic scientist working at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Centre of Public Health in Sweden. From 2002 he has worked as an associate professor in psychology at the Departments of Oncology-Pathology and Public Health at the Karolinska Institutet and Reykjavik University, Iceland .

He is best known for his population based research on sexual function and emotional isolation in elderly men and prostate cancer patients, patient trade-off and his work on smoking cessation and quitlines. Helgason was a prime mover in the establishment of the Swedish and Icelandic national quitlines for smoking cessation (1998) and responsible for their development. He is presently engaged in the development of a similar telephone based proactive treatment for people who seek help for controlling their alcohol consumption (alcohol quitline). Other work includes research on motivational interviewing and palliative care of cancer patients and its effect on long term well-being in surviving spouses.

Ásgeir has two sons Hugi (b. 1988) and Muni (b. 1991) after Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin. His brother-in-law is writer and humorist Tim Moore, his father is scientist Helgi Valdimarsson and he is a brother of scientist Agnar Helgason.

References and sources

*PhD thesis (1997): Prostate Cancer Treatment and Quality of Life – a Three Level Epidemiological Approach
*Sexual function in middle aged and elderly men: [http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/4/285]
*Emotional isolation in elderly men: [http://www.pauldickman.com/publications/emotional_isolation.pdf]
*Smoking cessation - quitlines: [http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/14/3/306]
*SvD - on emotional isolation (Swedish): [http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/idag/did_9739365.asp]
*Aftonbladet - on emotional isolation (Swedish): [http://www.aftonbladet.se/telegram/0,1082,437113_INR__,00.html]
*DN - on oral tobacco (Swedish): [http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=597&a=343773]