The NOS-M committee has during the last years put focus on how to expand Nordic research cooperation within personalised medicine. A mapping exercise of strategies and major initiatives related to personalised medicine at the national, Nordic and international level has been conducted. The report includes conclusions and recommendations for joint actions for research collaboration in personalised medicine in the Nordic countries.
NOS-M has identified some areas of common interest as recommendations for the Nordic countries to join forces and to become a key player in personalised medicine. The chairman of NOS-M, professor Jan-Ingvar Jönsson of the Swedish Research Council elaborates:
– There is a need for joint Nordic initiative to fund research in personalised medicine. Such a call should focus on the utilisation of health data from registers and biobanks or other health data resources, including omics data, areas in which the Nordic countries are strong but where mutual efforts would be beneficial. There is also a need for joint Nordic efforts and competence networks in rare diseases and cancer. NOS-M could play an important role in funding strategic Nordic network activities in such areas.
As identified in the NOS-M White Paper (2014), the utilisation of health and register data at the Nordic level should be a high priority on the Nordic cooperation agenda for research funders, data providers, health care and policy makers.