The University of Oslo recently opened its new Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM). The centre is the second in Norway to form a partnership with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).
Together with research groups in Umeå (Sweden) and Helsinki (Finland), the new centre will also be part of a Nordic partnership in the European system, the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine. Professor Kjetil Taskén, Director of the Biotechnology Centre of Oslo at the University of Oslo, is to head the new research centre, which will bring together six different groups of researchers in the field of molecular biology.
Cutting-edge Norwegian expertise
Researchers at NCMM will focus on the molecular mechanisms of disease. Norway is at the forefront in research on the molecular mechanisms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases and immune disorders.
"It is this cutting-edge expertise that forms the basis for the EMBL partnership and we expect this collaboration to generate many important research findings in the future," explains Professor Taskén.
Focus on translational research
The new Norwegian EMBL node will also focus on translational research - i.e., on getting research results out of the laboratory and into the hospitals. The centre will work at the national level to ensure that discoveries in the laboratory are quickly translated into clinical practice.
Funding from the Research Council
The Research Council of Norway has allocated NOK 50 million over a five-year period to the running of the centre and will provide a further NOK 50 million if the centre is a success.
The Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology in Bergen was the first research centre in Norway to form a partnership with EMBL, acquiring the status of EMBL node in 2003. Research at EMBL is conducted by 85 independent research groups that together cover a broad spectrum in the field of molecular biology.
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