The National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) 

coordinates the existing databases from major population-based
longitudinal studies on aging and health in Sweden.

Latest News

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Symposium at EU-GMS 2023 in Helsinki

NEAR held a well-attended symposium: "High-Quality Big Data for Geriatric Research: Experiences from the Swedish National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR)" at the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EU-GMS) in September 2023 in Helsinki, Finland.

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Laura Fratiglioni awarded the Bengt Winblad Prize 2023

The Swedish Society of Medicine (SLS) awards SEK 150,000 annually to someone who has made outstanding contributions to Alzheimer’s research. This year, the Bengt Winblad Prize is awarded to the Director of NEAR, Laura Fratiglioni.

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Ferrero Foundation ‘Healthy Aging Week 2023’ co-hosting NEAR workshop

NEAR will organize its next workshop in collaboration with the Ferrero Foundation during Healthy Aging Week 2023.

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NEAR expands with two databases

NEAR is expanding with two databases, the Swedish national inventory of health and care (SWENIS) and Sheltered Housing (TRYBO). SWENIS collects nationally representative data on residents’ health and quality of life.

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Database workshop meeting

The database managers of NEAR held a two-day workshop on-site at the Aging Research Center at Karolinska Institutet with the main purpose of discussing and developing overall matters of database management.

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Welcome to NEAR Davide Vetrano!

In January 2023, Davide Liborio Vetrano joined the NEAR Central Operational Group as a Scientific Promoter.

About NEAR

The National E-infrastructure for Aging Research (NEAR) is a unique research infrastructure that was founded in 2018. It is a collaboration between eight universities including Karolinska Institutet, University of Gothenburg, Lund University, Umeå University, Jönköping University, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Uppsala University and Stockholm University. The Director of NEAR is Senior Professor Laura Fratiglioni, MD, PhD.

Aims

The aims of NEAR are:

  • To run a National E-infrastructure for Aging Research
  • To promote and facilitate aging research in Sweden
  • To increase national as well as international exchange and collaboration
  • To enhance research quality and generalizability of research finding

The ultimate goal is to identify sustainable intervention strategies for better health and develop more effective care of the older population.

National Interest

NEAR fulfills the six criteria established by the Swedish Research Council (VR) to define an infrastructure of national interest:

Be of broad national interest

Sweden has one of the oldest populations in the world. The dramatic demographic changes underscore the urgent need to investigate in aging research with the major goal of identifying intervention strategies for longer and healthier lives. NEAR focus solely on aging and health, thus contributing to achieving this goal.

Provide conditions for world-leading research

A broad multidisciplinary perspective is needed to achieve outstanding research in aging. NEAR includes datasets with medical, psychological, and social data covering social gerontology, public health, biomedicine, neuroscience, and care sciences. The availability of these diverse data in such a large population makes NEAR unique.

Be exploited by several research teams or users involved in high-quality research projects

Our scientific production from the first three years shows that NEAR will be increasingly used by national and international researchers with high scientific profile as the infrastructure provides unique information for aging research and policy development.

Be of large sample size and national coverage

NEAR includes 15 databases covering older populations from almost all parts of Sweden. The large sample size provides nationally representative health-related data that allows tracing of societal changes, time trends and generational differences in older adults’ health.

Be subject to a long-term plan

The long-term plan of NEAR includes continuous expansion by adding new data, new databases, linking with registers and interaction with related international infrastructures.

Be open and easily to access for researchers, industry, and other users, and be subject to an accessibility plan

We have developed a detailed policy regarding accessibility, rules and procedures for using NEAR data for academic and non-academic users. We found solutions to guarantee open access to all users, while taking the ethical and legal aspects of sensitive personal data into account.