New international Pioneer Centre for medical data research

Professor Naomi Wray, University of Oxford, will be head of the SMARTbiomed Pioneer Centre.  Professor Wray will also take up a position at Aarhus University. 

“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,” says Naomi Wray. 

SMARTbiomed is anchored at Aarhus University, and Rector Brian Bech Nielsen is pleased that the collaboration has been successfully established. 

"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," says Brian Bech Nielsen. 

SMARTbiomed has become a reality on the initiative of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and thanks to a total donation of DKK 250 million from the Lundbeck Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Villum Foundation, the Carlsberg Foundation, and the Danish National Research Foundation. 

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." 

Senior Vice President i Lundbeckfonden, Jan Egebjerg, siger: 

”SMARTbiomed er endnu et stærkt eksempel på, hvordan en samlet indsats mellem offentlige og private fonde kan løfte et basalt forskningsfelt, i dette tilfælde til gavn for en række biomedicinske forskningsområder. Samtidigt tror vi på, at tværfaglighed og internationalt samarbejde er nødvendigt for at styrke dansk forskning til at kunne løse komplekse globale sundhedsproblemer.”