At Research Day 2024, Karen presented data from a study she did with The Copenhagen General Population Study. The results indicate an association between lower levels of remnant cholesterol and a lower absolute 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease. On why she won ‘Best Long Presentation by Popular Vote’, Karen said: “I think I managed to make my research project understandable for the audience. I captured their attention with a hook (a presentation-opening tactic where you capture the audiences’ interest at the beginning of the presentation) about who the hero is in Harry Potter and hopefully kept it throughout the presentation“.  

To keep the audience’s attention, Karen used a reference from the popular fantasy series Harry Potter: “I compared LDL Cholesterol to Harry Potter, as it is the most well-known type of cholesterol and has received the most focus in research. Then I compared remnant cholesterol to Neville Longbottom who is very important but less famous. Similarly, remnant cholesterol causes cardiovascular disease but receives less attention. I think people immediately understood my analogy and found it entertaining. This really set the stage for my presentation and made sure I had my audience’s attention”. 

Presentation technique's

The importance of a good hook for a presentation is something that Karen learned at the DCAcademy intro-course by communications consultant, Lene Koppernagel, but Karen has several other things she thinks about when making her presentations. She considers:  

• The level of expertise in the audience 
• Having a clear take-home message 
• Limiting the use of figures and text on slides  
• Only one slide per minute she has to present  
• Practice the presentation with herself, her husband and her supervisors.  

“I wanted my presentation to be accessible for a broad audience and not be too text-heavy because then I might lose people’s attention. I did not want to get lost in the details because not everyone in my audience is an epidemiologist”.  

Karen recently started her PhD project, so there is still plenty of research for her to do. In the coming three years, Karen will investigate the role of remnant cholesterol in individuals who already receive cholesterol-lowering medicine and in individuals with diabetes.  

“I really enjoy being a PhD student and would like to thank my inspiring supervisors: Mie Balling, Shoaib Afzal, and Børge Nordestgaard, my external supervisors Martin B. Mortensen and Alisa D. Kjærgaard, my supportive family and my sponsors; DCAcademy, Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy, Boserup Fonden and Herlevs Interne Fondsmidler". 

About Karen's project:

Began: 1/8/2024 

Title of the project: Remnant cholesterol and residual risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in statin treated individuals with type 2 diabetes 

Main supervisor: Børge G. Nordestgaard, Professor, chief physician, DMSc, MD, Dept. of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital – Herlev and Gentofte  

Co-supervisors: 

Alisa Devedzic Kjærgaard, Clinical researcher, MD, PhD, Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus  

Shoaib Afzal, Professor, Chief physician, DMSc, PhD, MD, Dept. of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital – Herlev and Gentofte  

Martin B. Mortensen, Associate professor, adjunct associate professor, PhD, MD, Department: Dept. of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine  

Mie Balling, Post-doc, PhD, MD, Dept. of Public Health, University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital – Herlev and Gentofte  

Read more about the project here: https://dcacademy.dk/default-title-3/grant-recipients-2024/karen-hvid