The University of Oxford has joined with Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen, to create a new Pioneer Centre into data-driven medical research.
The Pioneer Centre is anchored at Aarhus University with hub sites at each of the three universities and with a total grant of DKK 250 million (approximately £28.5 million).
The Pioneer Centre for SMARTbiomed will collect and analyse large amounts of data from both Danish and international registers and biobanks to learn more about, risk factors, relationships, patterns, treatment and consequences for disease including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, psychiatric diseases and endometriosis.
The Pioneer Centre holds three main objectives as listed below:
- To bring together multidisciplinary research teams to develop new methods for analysing biomedical data.
- To develop data platforms and software for biomedical research that are based on real medical issues and that are easily applicable.
- To establish an internationally leading learning and career environment in health data research.
Professor Naomi Wray, Michael Davys Professor of Psychiatric Genetics in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, will be head of the SMARTbiomed Pioneer Centre.
Professor Wray will also take up a position at Aarhus University and says “Collecting large amounts of biomedical data and using them to improve disease management requires both medical, statistical and computational approaches. SMARTbiomed will bring together a group of international researchers who know how to ask the right questions, who understand the complexity of data and who can translate it all into advanced treatment of diseases and disorders common in society”
Rector Brian Bech Nielsen, is pleased that the collaboration has been successfully established saying, "Collecting and analysing health data at this scale is important for our understanding and treatment of diseases. This is why this new pioneering centre is a big step forward for international health research. I'm both happy and proud that Aarhus University is hosting this unique collaboration between three strong international universities"
Senior Vice President of the Lundbeck Foundation, Jan Egebjerg, says: "SMARTbiomed is another strong example of how a joint effort between public and private foundations can boost a basic research field, in this case benefiting a number of biomedical research areas. And we believe that we need to work across disciplines and national borders if we are to strengthen Danish research so we can solve complex global health problems."
Professor Chris Holmes, Professor Cecilia Lundgren and Professor Peter Visscher, members of the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, will also be included as leaders for the Centre.
Image provided by Aarhus University