Centre for translational research in Epidemiology (TRACE)

Centre for translational research in Epidemiology (TRACE) is based on the epidemiological-statistical environment at IGS. The field of epidemiology has developed radically in recent years, partly due to developments in large-scale data analysis and genetics in addition to causal theory for observational data. The centre wants to take the development a step further by establishing new collaborative constellations that involve researchers with a background in biomedicine, bioinformatics, clinic in addition to epidemiology and medical statistics. Researchers in these fields have traditionally had different approaches to issues of causality, biological insight and relevance. The centre works to provide funding for innovative and integrated research across these disciplines to solve current issues.

Figur som viser translasjonell forskning i epidemiologi — Photo: Kari K.

Affiliation

About the research centre

The Centres overall goal is to create a translational and interdisciplinary knowledge platform that integrates big data from registers and experimental studies, and use this knowledge to create new strategies for the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases.

There is a great need for new strategies to reduce the global burden of non-communicable diseases. Through innovative translation methodology, the centre aims to discover important causal relationships and gain new biological insight by using the large amounts of data in registers, health surveys and biobanks and data from biomedical experiments. The research will in particular focus on causal connections that can be used in prevention and treatment.

We coordinate and further develop new methods from various disciplines such as epidemiology, causal inference, bioinformatics, machine learning, biomedicine and clinic. We generate hypotheses about disease causes based on experimental data, and verify these hypotheses in population-based data (reality data / RWD), and vice versa. The centres long - term goal is to develop the knowledge platform to become a national resource for causal research, and to train new generations of researchers in translational thinking.