The Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted DKK 150 million to establish the Copenhagen Center for Biomedical Quantum Sensing. The center, a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Texas at Austin, aims to advance quantum sensing for early disease detection. Quantum sensing can measure small changes in motion and electromagnetic fields, enabling the detection of faint signals within the body. Lene Oddershede, Senior Vice President of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and researchers Eugene Polzik and Mark Raizen are vital figures in this project.
Quantum Sensing: A New Frontier in Disease Diagnosis and Prevention
Quantum sensing, with its unparalleled precision, has the potential to revolutionize the biomedical and health sciences by enhancing the early detection and prevention of diseases. The Copenhagen Center for Biomedical Quantum Sensing is being established with a grant of DKK 150 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. This initiative will foster an international research collaboration to develop innovative quantum sensing principles and techniques for disease detection.
Human health largely depends on our ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases. However, many conditions, such as metabolic disorders, nutritional deficiencies, cardiovascular diseases, and brain disorders, often do not exhibit noticeable symptoms in their early stages when they are most treatable. The evolution of quantum sensing technology could change this by enabling the detection of minute changes in motion and electric and magnetic fields, far surpassing the capabilities of classical sensors.
Quantum Sensing: A Leap Beyond Classical Sensors
The advancement of quantum sensing technology allows for the detection and measurement of small changes in motion and electric and magnetic fields, far surpassing the capabilities of classical sensors. This new quantum-based capability will enable sensing faint signals buried deep within the body, such as weak electromagnetic impulses from nerves, the heart, or the brain. This critical information can facilitate earlier detection and prevention of diseases.
The Copenhagen Center for Biomedical Quantum Sensing is being established with a grant of DKK 150 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. This ambitious research project involves researchers from the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Texas at Austin. They aim to advance quantum sensing and imaging technologies in medical diagnostics and healthcare.
Quantum Sensing in Biomedical Diagnostics
The primary objective of this new research collaboration is to develop and utilize novel quantum sensing principles and techniques for biomedical diagnostics. These techniques are expected to operate near and beyond standard quantum sensitivity limits, providing ultra-sensitive platforms for early disease detection and facilitating profound investigations into cellular systems at an unprecedented scale and precision.
At the University of Copenhagen, researchers will focus on developing highly sensitive sensors that have the potential to be more precise than current state-of-the-art methods for detecting diseases. In collaboration with hospitals and biomedical experts, the aim is to develop novel atomic and quantum-enabled methods that can be applied to some of the most urgent health problems, such as early diagnosis of heart and brain anomalies, detecting metabolic changes in the body, preventing malnutrition, nerve degeneration, and the response to antibiotics.
Quantum Sensing: A Global Health Impact
Mark Raizen, Professor of Physics and Pediatrics at the University of Texas at Austin, will focus on research related to the global fight against iron deficiency, which affects about half of all children in the world and has devastating effects on lifelong brain function. A new highly accurate test for assessing the uptake of iron supplements by infants and toddlers has been developed at the University. Still, it is currently too expensive and requires too large a blood sample for widespread use.
Another aim is to use quantum sensing technologies to develop more efficient and reliable ways to diagnose serious medical conditions such as chronic kidney disease by investigating new potential sensitive biomarkers. At the Technical University of Denmark, researchers will be working on experimental optical and solid-state physics with applications in quantum sensing and quantum information processing.
Quantum Sensing: Future Prospects and Investments
The Novo Nordisk Foundation has recently made substantial investments in quantum technologies, including a grant to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme and Quantum Foundry Copenhagen P/S funding. The international quantum sensing research collaboration will consolidate and significantly strengthen the quantum sensing activities in Denmark, fostering global synergy and promoting translation into clinical applications. The Copenhagen Center for Biomedical Quantum Sensing is being funded in the first phase by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and phase 2 funding will be sought in partnership with the Pointsman Foundation, an independent non-profit foundation based in Austin, Texas.