Geneticist receives large grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation
Ditte Demontis from the Department of Biomedicine is a professor of psychiatric genetics. She is working to identify the genetics behind psychiatric disorders in children and she has received a grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation of DKK 12 million.
ADHD affects about 5% of all children and is associated with an increased risk of obesity. A new research project headed by Professor Ditte Demontis aims to identify the biological disease mechanisms common to people with ADHD and obesity. The project will generate knowledge about overweight and obesity in people with ADHD, as well as overweight and obesity primarily driven by impulsive behaviour in the general population.
"Comparing genetic data from people with ADHD and obesity can potentially help us to intervene earlier and, for example, prevent cardiovascular diseases for a significant part of the population," says Ditte Demontis and continues:
"My research group is conducting large-scale genetic studies to identify the underlying biological causes. A study like the one we want to conduct about ADHD and obesity includes data from many thousands of individuals and can help identify rare, shared genetic risk variants."
Half of the grant will go to Ditte Demontis and her research group in Aarhus, while the other half will go to her collaboration partner Simon Rasmussen, who is a professor at the University of Copenhagen. In Aarhus, the grant will enable the research group to employ PhD students and postdocs.
Contact
Professor Ditte Demontis
Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine
Telephone: +45 28539746
Email: ditte@biomed.au.dk