Challenge Programme 2025 – Interactions of Infectious and Cardiometabolic Diseases (Denmark)

• The purpose of the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Challenge Programme is to make substantial contribution to the development of the Danish research environment, within ambitious research aimed to solve major challenges in health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The aim is to give leading researchers the opportunity to assemble a strong team that can collaborate in a centre-like structure with a unifying vision and mission to develop solutions to major challenges. The Programme provides long-term funding to enable scientific depth and focus and facilitate synergy between the research partners.

Research Theme 2025

• The programme is a strategic effort targeting specific challenges within annually selected research themes. For the 2025 application call, the Challenge Programme is seeking to support the following research theme:
  • Interactions of Infectious and Cardiometabolic Diseases
• Infectious disease (ID) and cardiometabolic disease (CMD) are two major global health challenges that affect millions of people every year. While these are distinct types of disease, there is growing evidence that they interact in complex ways, and that these interactions influence the risk, severity, and prognosis of both types of disease.
• The Challenge is to understand the interactions between CMDs and IDs and inform how to best reduce the morbidity and mortality of people and populations exposed to both CMDs and IDs.
• The programme will have a special focus on cross-disciplinary research that builds on existing expertise in CMDs and IDs. Collaboration with researchers from relevant countries and settings in Denmark that have a higher dual burden of CMDs and IDs is encouraged. The programme is not limited to a specific CMD or ID but must focus on understanding the interactions between the disease types (i.e. the mechanisms and causal processes that render the combined effect of the two diseases more than additive).
• To better understand the interactions between CMDs and IDs, basic biomedical research that is pertinent, applicable, and state-of-the-art is required. To inform how to best reduce the morbidity and mortality of people and populations exposed to both CMDs and IDs, implementation and clinical research may also be included. Consideration of health equity and diversity both in relation to gender and ethnicity is required.
• Supported research may include but is not limited to:
  • Understanding the causal processes and biological mechanisms that underpin the interactions between CMDs and IDs (e.g. immune, metabolic, and inflammatory pathways).
  • Investigating the biological mechanisms and causal processes in different research contexts (e.g. laboratory, clinic) or model systems (e.g. cell-based, animal, human).
  • Developing and testing novel individual and population-based strategies to optimise prediction, prevention and/or treatment of the dual burden of CMDs and IDs.

Funding

• A total of up to DKK 120 million is available for grants between DKK 30 million and DKK 60 million for projects lasting 6 years.

Eligibility

• The Challenge Programme supports excellent research leaders from 2-4 research groups (main applicant plus 1-3 co-applicants).
• The programme leader must be at least 75% employed at a Danish university, hospital or other non-profit research organization, that will be considered the host institution of the project.
• The research institutions of the co-applicants can be located in Denmark or abroad. The co-applicants should contribute significantly to the advancement of the project and should receive part of the funding.
• Industry collaboration is possible; however, funding cannot be awarded to industrial partner(s).

For more information, visit Novo Nordisk Fonden.