INRICH Member Profile Card

Karl Gauffin

Karl Gauffin

CHESS, centre for health studies, Stockholm University


Karl Gauffin is a postdoctoral researcher at Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), a transdisciplinary research center connected to Stockholm University and Karolinska institutet.

Karl has a PhD in public health from Karolinska institutet and wrote his thesis on childhood social inequality and alcohol related health disparities later in life. He also holds an MSc in health inequalities and public policy from the University of Edinburgh and a Dipl.Pol degree in political science from the Free University Berlin.

Currently, he is involved in the research project Coming of Age in Exile (CAGE), which examines the social and health related development of young refugees in the Nordic countries.


Type of member: Regular


Telephone: +46 8 6747994

Email Address: karl.gauffin@chess.su.se

Mailing Address: Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University / Karolinska Institutet, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden


Collaborative Projects

Coming of Age in Exile" (CAGE) in cooperation with Professor Anders Hjern. "Children of addicts – long term outcomes of health, cognitive competence and social adjustment in relation to adoption and other child welfare interventions" in cooperation with Professor Anders Hjern.

Current research interests
Public health theory development and social determinants of health

Childhood social inequality and its connection to alcohol related health inequalities in adulthood

Migration and health, global health and social justice

Research priorities
Pathways and mechanisms: Cumulative and additive social risk exposures (e.g. transient v. persistent poverty). Intergenerational influences. | Methodological issues: Methods for examining change over time including longitudinal effects studies. Need to study social gradients as well as poverty.


Selected publications

Gauffin K, Östergren O, Cederström A. (2023) Waves of inequality: income differences in intensive care due to Covid-19 in Sweden, European Journal of Public Health, June 2023, 1–6. DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad094Full Text PDF

Gauffin, K., Vinnerljung, B., & Hjern, A. (2015). School performance and alcohol-related disorders in early adulthood: a Swedish national cohort study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 44(3), 919-927. doi:10.1093/ije/dyv006

Gauffin, K., Hemmingsson, T., & Hjern, A. (2013). The effect of childhood socioeconomic position on alcohol-related disorders later in life: a Swedish national cohort study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 67(11), 932-938. doi:10.1136/jech-2013-202624

profile updated: 07/06/2023