HRI staff includes scientists, post docs, PhD students, master students, and research technicians working in diabetes research. HRI is a part of the Novo Nordisk company, providing them with viable drug candidates for their diabetes product development pipeline.

New research focus in 2010

In 2010, HRI will focus its research efforts on early applied research. This means that HRI’s five decades of world-class basic research will now give way to an early applied research approach. This approach will be based on translational biology-based innovations in five main specialty areas:

• Insulin & Incretins
• Beta-cell Reconstitution
• Stem-cell Therapy
• Diabetes Inflammation
• diabetes genetics

The new expanded research focus at HRI will aim to identify new biology-based targets for potential drugs to supply Novo Nordisk’s pipeline within the key areas of diabetes pathogenesis, treatment and cure. The discovery primarily takes place through in vitro assays with proteins and peptides. With our new scope, we serve as early applied research centre for Novo Nordisk’s Diabetes Research Unit (DRU) and as a strategic hub for DRU’s early discovery research.

We will do this by becoming a world-class early applied research centre and a market-leading incubator for innovation to change diabetes.

HRI actively participates in scientific networks and collaborations with academia, top scientists and institutions and also publishes its own research.

Attracting new talent is key at HRI in order to have the right competencies on board to help us to realise our leadership aspirations in diabetes treatment research. Employees at HRI work in a highly innovative and dynamic matrix organisation where state-of-the-art research and teamwork go hand in hand – and where the agenda can quickly change. HRI is always looking for people with a flexible mindset and the ability to quickly adjust to new tasks and new team formations.

At HRI, you will meet a welcoming environment where scientists, post docs, PhD students, master students, research technicians and supportive staff all work together on preventing, treating and defeating diabetes as an integrated part of DRU - and, by this means, improving the quality of life for millions of people with diabetes around the world.

Our objective is to identify targets that can treat or prevent diabetes by reconstituting functional beta cell mass.

We identify, investigate and translate protein targets that can induce beta cell regeneration. Using state-of-art technology, we study processes of beta cell neogenesis and replication. Furthermore, we work in close collaboration with the department of Stem Cell Biology.

We aim at using human metabolic genetics and gut microbiomics, as our purpose is to discover potential drugable targets and translate gene discovery into personalised medicine with a focus on prevention, improved drug efficacy, and reduction of side-effects at the individual level. In collaboration with other departments within the organisation we will be exploring putative drug targets.

We possess an extensive national and international scientific network and are active partners in a number of EU-funded consortia. Additionally, we are heading the LuCAMP centre: the Danish-Sino initiative to read the human genome and the gut microbiome to improve metabolic and cardiovascular health of the at-risk population. And last but not least, we have an extensive scientific production of peer-reviewed original papers and a long list of graduated students and PhDs.

Our aim is to establish a world-class scientific area where we combine immunology and metabolic disease in order to generate future medications for treatment of diabetes and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

We identify and evaluate new anti-inflammatory targets for the treatment of diabetes and prevention of its complications. We are responsible for the initial R&D diabetes inflammation initiatives within Novo Nordisk Diabetes Research Unit. Both metabolic disease and inflammation are part of our scientific expertise. Furthermore, our experimental expertise covers in vitro models of diabetes inflammation where we work with e.g. islets of Langerhans, adipocytes, vascular and immune cell cultures. 

We collaborate with our research unit colleagues within biology, pharmacology and peptide chemistry. In addition we collaborate with a range of other areas within R&D, e.g. scientific intelligence, sourcing, patents, new product planning as well as international research institutions and scientific experts around the world.

Our prime aim is to be innovative and challenge current ways of thinking insulin and incretin biology and analogues design. The ultimate goal is to feed the early research pipeline with innovative projects; the first step in the discovery of improved insulin and incretin analogues for improved diabetes treatment.

Our focus in future design of insulin and incretin analogues is to obtain an increased understanding of insulin and GLP-1 receptor signalling as well as the functional outcome of receptor activation by these ligands in various tissues.