March 24, 2026

Uppsala University is joining NEAR!

NEAR is happy to share that we are expanding to include Uppsala University and two additional databases: the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (ULSAM) and the Healthy Ageing Initiative (HAI). HAI is led by Peter Nordström and Anna Nordström, and ULSAM is also led by Peter Nordström.

ULSAM is a population-based longitudinal cohort study comprising all men born between 1920 and 1924 who lived in Uppsala County at midlife. The study was initiated to examine metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors and their long-term consequences for health and aging. Between 1970 and 1973, all eligible 50-year-old men were invited to the baseline examination. Participants have since been followed through repeated in-person examinations at ages 60, 70, 77, 82, 88, and 93, with a maximum follow-up of 43 years.

HAI is a population-based study initiated in 2012 in Umeå, northern Sweden, aimed at identifying cardiometabolic and functional risk factors in older adults and supporting healthy aging through preventive efforts. All residents aged 70 years were invited, and approximately 7,000 individuals completed a comprehensive health examination. HAI is linked to Swedish national health and administrative registers, allowing long-term follow-up of cardiovascular disease, fractures, dementia, medication use, and mortality.

“ULSAM and HAI together form a uniquely powerful research platform, combining genetic data from more than 8,000 individuals with over 1,800 carefully collected variables. With genome-wide data covering millions of SNPs, this resource enables researchers to gain new insights into the genetic drivers of common diseases and healthy aging”, says Peter Nordström, principal investigator (PI) of ULSAM and HAI.

Peter Nordström. Photo: Andreas Gradin

“We are delighted to welcome ULSAM and HAI into the consortium. The addition of these two outstanding population-based resources significantly strengthens NEAR, particularly from a genetic and healthy aging perspective. Also, the inclusion of Uppsala University is a crucial step in increasing our national coverage and advancing our mission to facilitate high-quality research on aging and age-related diseases in Sweden”, says the NEAR Director, Debora Rizzuto.

Debora Rizzuto. Photo: Maria Yohuang.