Health and prevention

2010- (so far it is running until the end of 2011)

Varying. 2010: 64 mill. DKK, 2011: 30 mill. DKK

The Danish Council for Strategic Research

See below

From basic research to individualised treatment By far the majority of diseases that afflict us are caused by factors that were often present many years before the disease was diagnosed. This is true for example of cancers, allergies, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, chronic inflammatory diseases and diseases affecting the central nervous system. In some cases, the root cause of a disease arises as early as at the foetal stage, while the development of other diseases is determined by factors occuring in later life. The mapping of the human genome has meant that it has finally become possible to establish interactions between heredity and environment. But current diagnostic techniques and treatments are not sufficiently focused on the fact that people are unique individuals. The challenge is to make the most of this diversity in the treatment and prevention of a wide range of diseases. There is generally a great need to move molecular biology from the laboratory to the bedside and back again. Linking translational medicine with the patient’s genetic and proteomic profile offers the possibility of tailoring a course of treatment to the individual patient.   Chronic disease between prevention and rehabilitation. The major chronic diseases represent a key health challenge. Around a third of the Danish population is affected by one or more chronic diseases. The causes of those diseases are many, but are linked with modern lifestyles. It is vital to determine and actively prevent the causes of the major chronic diseases and to achieve improvements in treatment, and ultimately, a cure for chronic diseases. A strategic research effort is to contribute to the prevention of chronic diseases and their symptoms and – through treatment and rehabilitation – to preserve quality of life and functional ability for people with chronic disease and thereby also to reduce public healthcare expenditure. A number of problems are common to the entire disease group and can be related to how the effort is coordinated and to organisational factors in the health service. A key challenge thus relates to an improved, patient-centred healthcare initiative, which, among other things, supports the capacity of individuals to cope with their disease.   Human health and safety interaction with environmental factors The main challenge concerning environmental factors consists of reducing negative human health impacts through increased knowledge of environmental factors and the development of new methods for risk assessment and prioritisation of a research drive in this area. Another significant factor consists of applying this knowledge commercially and competitively in the global market, where product confidence, safety and health are gaining increasing prominence as competitive parameters. The need for research in this area comprises the development of new methods for use in risk assessment of chemical substances, including methods capable of reducing the number of safety tests performed on experimental animals. In the field of microbiology, there is a need for greater knowledge of why man lives in harmony with many microorganisms which exist in the normal gut flora, and which when absent can cause disease, while others can cause lethal infections and play a role in other types of disease such as cancer.

2-phase application procedure

Foreign partner are very welcome