On 1 May, Associate Professor Francesco Lescai will begin work on a new innovation project that has received almost DKK 11.3 million from the European Commission.

2016.05.10 | Ida Kellemann Thomsen

On 1 May, Associate Professor Francesco Lescai will begin work on a new innovation project that has received almost DKK 11.3 million from the European Commission. Photo: Lars Kruse, Aarhus Universitet

Medical innovation and socially responsible research. These are the keywords for the new project that Associate Professor Francesco Lescai from the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University is ready to begin. The European Commission has selected him to receive the funding for "SMART-map", which is an abbreviation for ”Societal Mobilisation for the Advancement of Responsible industrial Technologies”.

Francesco Lescai works as a member of the iPSYCH research group, the Lundbeck Foundation Initiative studying autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder over a nine-year period. iPSYCH connects to multiple research areas, one of which is precision medicine. This is Francesco Lescai’s area of expertise.

In precision medicine researchers work to develop treatments that are tailor-made for the individual psychiatric patient based on genetic factors.

Precision medicine benefits society

Francesco Lescai’s grant is specifically targeted at promoting connections with industries in this area and ensuring socially responsible innovation.

"Precision medicine is bringing a revolution into national health systems: together with several companies we will develop guidelines for innovation in this field to respond better to societal demands, to be more inclusive, and facilitate citizens participation" says Francesco Lescai.

This socially responsible part of Francesco Lescai’s research has been selected by the European Commission for a major grant that runs into millions of Danish kroner. The aim of the SMART-map grant is to give researchers the opportunity to turn ideas into reality, and to create better collaboration between biomedical and pharmaceutical industry, the researchers who carry out the basic work in the development of new medicine, but also all components of society.

Francesco Lescai is looking forward to playing a role in the development of precision medicine in Denmark, something that is currently under discussion and will bring the country in the same scenario where UK, USA and Canada are investing a lot.

"This grant is particularly strategic for the Faculty of Health and for Aarhus because of the ongoing discussion about how precision medicine initiatives should be implemented in Denmark. This project will attract many industries and stakeholders in the area, thus helping our university and the city to play an important role in the development of a Danish initiative" says Francesco Lescai.

The grant was signed by the European Commission on 13 April and the project is expected to begin on 1 May 2016.

Further information:

Associate Professor, Francesco Lescai
Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine
Direct tel.: (+45) 8716 8496
lescai@biomed.dk