International collaboration is growing to be strategically oriented towards Asia, which hosts some of the world's largest and most comprehensive health registries. This focus on Asian partnerships is aligned with the NFR's INTPART funding scheme, which promotes the establishment of international networks that enhance the quality of higher education and research in Norway.
At the ISPOR Summit in Tokyo, Hedvig and Marleen hosted a workshop titled "Nordic-Asia Pacific Collaboration in Real-World Evidence Studies: Lessons Learned and Opportunities for Future Research Networks" with Fei-Yuan Sharon Hsiao. Marleen acted as a moderator, and Hedvig delivered a presentation. This workshop focused on existing and potential Nordic-Asia collaborations, including data harmonization and methodological innovations.
Hedvig and Marleen were also able to visit previous guest researcher Takamasa Sakai (Assistant Professor at Meijo University), who visited PharmaSafe in 2024-2025 as an iAPOGEE scholar.
To further solidify these collaborations, a specific lecture and symposium on Nordic-Asian collaboration will be held in Hong Kong in December 2025. These events aim to facilitate deeper engagement and to showcase Norwegian health data. By leveraging the strengths of Asian health registries, we anticipate more generalizable estimates of medication effectiveness and safety by capturing variation in genetics, clinical practice, and baseline risks that complement Nordic data.
Thank you to Marleen and Hedvig for representing us in Japan!