Novo Nordisk Foundation funds genomic research into metabolic diseases
· News-MedicalThe Novo Nordisk Foundation has committed $53 million to renew and expand the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Genomic Mechanisms of Disease at the Broad Institute, led by managing director Kasper Lage. This funding will scale up the Center's transatlantic efforts to decode the biological drivers of type 2 diabetes and obesity and identify new targets for potential therapies by combining massive-scale data generation, artificial intelligence, and advanced cellular models.
"Cardiometabolic diseases including diabetes and obesity are the leading cause of death globally. Yet we still don't understand enough about the biological mechanisms that drive them," said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO at the Novo Nordisk Foundation. "By uniting Denmark's world-class expertise in metabolic and population research with the Broad's unparalleled genomic and computational capabilities, we're already seeing advances that might not otherwise have been possible. I'm pleased that our Foundation is continuing its support for this unique collaboration, which shows how long-term investment in excellent science and strong international partnerships can create exciting opportunities for discovery."
From genetic discovery to biological understanding
- The most comprehensive cellular and genomic resource for metabolic disease to date
- Scalable new technologies for variant-to-function research
- Foundational datasets linking genetics to cellular biology
- Advanced tools for large-scale genetic discovery across diverse populations
"With this renewed commitment, we're moving from building the foundation to deploying it at unprecedented scale," said Lage. "Together with our colleagues in Denmark, we want to move from identifying genetic associations to understanding and ultimately predicting how genetic variation changes human biology. By combining human genetics, large-scale experimentation, and AI, we have an opportunity to uncover entirely new disease mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities for type 2 diabetes, obesity, and related metabolic diseases."
A new phase of genetic and computational research
This massive dataset will be used to train specialized AI programs that can predict how DNA changes disrupt cellular health, helping pinpoint the exact biological causes of metabolic diseases. Training these AI models will require immense computing power, which will be provided by Denmark's AI supercomputer Gefion, one of the most powerful GPU clusters in the world.
In the coming years, the Center will also launch a comprehensive three-year postdoctoral fellowship program where early-career researchers will split their time between Danish institutions and the Broad.
The Danish side of the partnership will also be strengthened over the next few years, with benefits for the entire collaboration. Researchers in Denmark will take on co-leadership of the Center's major research programmes and a new office in Denmark will strengthen coordination across the country's partners.
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