A specialist in Clinical Psychology educated at University of Aarhus and University of Copenhagen, Dr Svend Aage Madsen was head of Department of Family Therapy in Rødovre commune between 1986 and 1995. Licensed in psychology in 1990 and in psychotherapy in 1995, he obtained his Ph.D. with a thesis on 'When being a mother is not just happiness '.

Svend Aage has headed various research programmes tackling issues such as Families with Obese Children and Fathers’ Relations with their Infants and Toddlers. His way into the men’s health field was through research into men as fathers present at the birth of their child in hospitals and health services treatment of men as fathers. He has worked on men’s health for a long time including issues such as men and health services, men and obesity, men’s mood disorders related to fatherhood and men in fertility treatments.

Since 1996 Svend Aage has been Head of Clinic for Psychology, Play Therapy & Social Counselling and Head of Psychological and Psychosocial Research Unit at the Copenhagen University Hospital, and external lecturer in research methodology at the University of Copenhagen.

Besides his academic activities, he is also President of the Men’s Health Society, Denmark, coordinator of the Nordic Network on Research in Men’s Health, a member of the Steering Committee of the European Men’s Health Forum Network and on the board of directors of the EMHF since June 2005.

Svend Aage has also published in national and international reviews.