EMBL sets up Nordic medicine initiative
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) has launched a new Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, together with the University of Helsinki in Finland, the University of Oslo in Norway and Umeå University in Sweden. The goal of the agreement is to encourage scientific exchanges and collaborations between the partners and to facilitate access to scientific infrastructures, facilities and services. The partnership will have an initial duration of five years. Molecular medicine is the field of life sciences that investigates the molecular basis of disease and explores molecularly and genetically based treatments. EMBL has expertise in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, bioinformatics and structural biology. Meanwhile Norway has a strong reputation in the molecular mechanisms of disease; Sweden's strength is in microbial pathogenicity and molecular infection medicine and Finland has expertise in genetic epidemiology. 'Each partner has a long history of research in specific areas relevant to molecular medicine and brings in a unique set of expertise, skills and facilities,' said Iain Mattaj, chair of the partnership's steering committee and Director General at EMBL. 'Combining complementary strengths in the new Nordic EMBL Partnership equips us to tackle some of the most challenging problems of biomedicine.' The new partnership will be overseen by a steering committee comprising two representatives from each node. Scientific progress will be evaluated by a committee of external experts. As well as working with each other, the three new Nordic nodes will collaborate with other national partners such as hospitals and research institutes to establish an extensive Nordic network for molecular medicine.
Countries
Finland, Norway, Sweden