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Fostering Nordic collaborations in molecular medicine
The 13th annual meeting of the Nordic EMBL partnership for molecular medicine was hosted by the Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM) in Oslo
By Marie Goua, Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway
The Nordic EMBL Partnership for molecular medicine is a major strategic player in Europe’s molecular understanding of disease mechanisms, thanks to its complementary research expertise, outstanding research infrastructures, and industry collaborations. The partnership facilitates scientific collaboration and access to scientific infrastructure, including databases, facilities, and instrumentation, as well as services and training activities provided by the partners.
The annual Nordic EMBL partnership meetings promote scientific networking between researchers at member nodes, namely FIMM (Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland), DANDRITE (Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience), MIMS (Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden), and NCMM (Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway). The meeting creates an excellent platform to showcase the fundamental and translational research undertaken within molecular medicine in the partnership and beyond. In the spirit of the partnership, the meeting gives research group leaders from across the nodes the opportunity to discuss ongoing joint projects, identify new shared interests, and establish collaborations. This year’s meeting, held from 16 to 19 September in Oslo, Norway, was particularly timely, as the partnership prepares to launch the second round of the NORPOD joint postdoctoral programme, funded by NordForsk.
Programme highlights
To set the scene, Edith Heard, Director General of EMBL, joined the meeting to present the reach of EMBL across Europe and beyond, underscoring the importance of the Nordic EMBL partnership for molecular medicine in the context of the European research landscape.
To further highlight the strengths of the EMBL partnership model, NCMM invited the Michael Sars Centre to contribute to the meeting. The Michael Sars Centre, rooted in the Bergen academic community and serving as a national strategic asset for Norwegian marine life sciences, was one of the first EMBL partners in Europe. Its director, Lionel Christaen, presented the centre and highlighted the importance of being an EMBL partner within the Norwegian research environment.
Three keynote speakers were invited to frame each day of the programme: James Hackett, group leader at EMBL Rome, presented his work on intergenerational inheritance; Rosa Cossart, director of the Institute of Mediterranean Neurobiology (INMED), discussed her pioneering work on systems developmental neuroscience; and Renée Beekam, from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) Barcelona, showcased her latest research on epigenomics effects in early lymphoma formation.
The programme also shone light on some of the new group leaders that have been recruited across the Nordic EMBL Partnership over the last year. Anna Klawonn (DANDRITE), Iker Aramburu (MIMS), Ryo Morimoto (MIMS), Simone Rubinacci (FIMM), and Rafa Najumudeen (MIMS) were given the opportunity to present their work and ambition for their newly established research groups. Additionally, Michael Sars Centre Group Leader Marios Chatzigeorgiou provided an insight into the molecular and cellular basis of sensory perception in the ocean.
Celebrating early career researchers
The Nordic EMBL Partnership meeting kicked off with the Young Investigators’ Meeting (YIM), which was attended by 70 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows from across the four nodes. During the two-day event, they listened to talks by Magnus Gulbrandsen, from OSIRIS at the University of Oslo, and Sigrid Bratlie from the Langsikt Policy Center. Both speakers discussed the importance of communicating research to a wider audience and funders by considering, for example, the societal impact of their research. On Day 2, YIM participants attended a highly interactive leadership and management workshop, facilitated by hfp consulting. It provided participants with tools to support their career development and strengthen their professional network.
With 15 oral presentations, 16 flash talks, and 58 posters, the Nordic EMBL Partnership meeting acts as a platform for PhD students and postdoctoral fellows to present their work to a supportive community. To celebrate the scientific achievement of the students and postdoctoral fellows, two prizes were awarded: Sandra Holmberg, from the Schröder group at MIMS, was awarded the Best Flash Talk prize; and Sandra Bryne, from the Boccara group at NCMM, received the Best Poster accolade.
The organisers would like to thank Line Grønning-Wang, Norwegian EMBL delegate, for her attendance, and they are looking forward to attending the 5th EMBL Partnership Conference, ‘AI in one health’, in Heidelberg in 2025, which will gather all the EMBL partnership institutes.
This article has been adapted from a news article by the Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM). Find the original story at the NCMM website here.
