Helene Skjøt-Arkil appointed professor of responsible antibiotic use in the emergency department at SDU

The professorship aims to strengthen patient-centered research in diagnostics and targeted antibiotic treatment in the emergency department. The goal is faster and more precise treatment, fewer side effects and reduced antibiotic resistance.

About the professorship

Helene Skjøt-Arkil has been appointed professor of responsible antibiotic use in the emergency department at the Department of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark.

The professorship is anchored at the Department of Regional Health Research at SDU and at the Emergency Department at the Hospital of Southern Jutland in Aabenraa, where the research is closely integrated with clinical practice.

The research focuses on how antibiotics can be used in a more targeted and evidence-based way – particularly in the emergency department, where most of the hospital antibiotic treatment is initiated. The work aims to support faster and more precise diagnosis of acute infections, better and more patient-friendly treatment, and to help slow the development of antibiotic resistance – one of the greatest global threats to public health.

The professorship includes several major research programs with national and international relevance. These programs combine clinical multicenter studies, the development and testing of advanced diagnostics, data-driven solutions, personalized medicine and implementation science. The vision is to become a leading research environment within responsible treatment of acute infections.

The largest patient populations in the research are patients with respiratory infections, urinary tract infections and erysipelas. A central focus is how digital decision-support tools based on artificial intelligence can support better diagnostics and more targeted antibiotic selection in clinical practice, how new methods can enable faster and more precise diagnosis, and how existing antibiotics can be used more responsibly.

As Helene Skjøt-Arkil explains:

– Antibiotics save lives – but only if we use them responsibly. In the emergency department, much of the antibiotic treatment used in hospitals is initiated, shaping patients’ subsequent treatment pathways. My goal is for more patients to receive the correct infection diagnosis and targeted, effective treatment from the outset.

Where the professorship is anchored

The professorship is anchored at the Department of Regional Health Research at SDU and at the Emergency Department at the Hospital of Southern Jutland in Aabenraa.

Since completing her PhD in 2013, Helene Skjøt-Arkil has been a central part of research and development in the emergency department and later across the hospital. She has played an important role in building a strong local research environment and will continue, alongside the professorship, as coordinating head of research at the hospital. In this role, she acts as a link between hospital management, research environments and IRS-SDU.

She is also academically responsible for the Evidence-Based Medicine module in the medical degree program in Esbjerg, where she also teaches.

About the academic profile

Helene Skjøt-Arkil graduated as a pharmacist from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen in 2008. She obtained her PhD in 2013 and has since been employed at IRS-SDU and the Hospital of Southern Jutland – first as a postdoc and clinical pharmacist and later as associate professor and specialist consultant.

For many years, she has worked with clinical, patient-centered research in acute infections and antibiotic treatment and has contributed to developing research-based solutions that strengthen the quality of the first treatment decisions.

As she puts it:

– Antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s greatest public health threats. When we improve the quality of the first treatment decisions, we improve patient care throughout the entire healthcare system. My focus is on building the research-based knowledge that makes this possible.