Director of NordForsk Arne Flåøyen says:
“This is the first time we have had a call in cooperation with Japan in an area of Nordic-Japanese added value. The Nordic countries and Japan have many demographic similarities and challenges. Researchers can make use of health data to gain new knowledge about how we ensure a healthy life for the elderly part of the population. We are therefore very pleased to be able to fund three new research projects, because it is important to strengthen research cooperation between the Nordic countries and Japan, which we hope this initiative will contribute to. "
Health data in cooperation with Japan
The Nordic countries and Japan face similar demographic challenges. Age-related health challenges in their increasingly elderly populations are among the greatest concerns of future health care and will demand steadily rising costs for both the health care system and society. Increased knowledge leading to more healthy years for individuals could in the long run prevent these rising costs as well as improve citizens’ quality of life.
Joining forces provides a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of personalised medicine for healthy longevity. Strategies for frontier research that emphasise knowledge development, patient centricity and digital application development have great potential to contribute to healthy ageing for the individual.
The three new research projects have a total budget of approximately NOK 25 million.
Funded projects
- Molecular and structural biomarkers for personalised care in osteoarthritis
Project leader: Martin Englund, Lund University in Sweden
Other participating institutions: Juntendo University of Japan, Oulu University of Finland and Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Norway
- Nordic-Japan multidomain interventions for healthy aging and prevention of dementia and disability
Project leader: Miia Kivipelto, Karolinska Institute in Sweden
Other participating institutions: Fingers Brain Health Institute in Sweden, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology in Japan, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in Finland, Stavanger University Hospital in Norway and Alzheimer’s Disease International in the United Kingdom
- Unveiling the risk factors of ageing to promote healthy longevity
Project leader: Evandro Fei Fang, University of Oslo
Other participating institutions: Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health in Norway, Chiba University in Japan, Karolinska Institute in Sweden and FIMM University of Helsinki in Finland
