ReproUnion

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By promoting research and development in reproduction in the Öresund region, the ReproUnion project aims to defeat infertility. Among other things, about 20 new research projects will ensure this. Involuntary childlessness is a major problem in both Sweden and Denmark. But instead of each country developing methods individually, the ReproUnion project believes that countries find solutions faster if they work together. There are great opportunities for synergies across borders. By working together, we can conduct major research projects and coordinate our knowledge. “For the symptoms that few patients have, there is no reason to start treatments on both sides of the Sound, instead there are great benefits of concentrating that work in one place,” says Aleksander Giwercman, one of the initiators of ReproUnion and professor of reproductive medicine at Lund University. Our countries are quite small individually, and it is therefore extremely important that we together come up with a larger critical mass of competence and patient data for research. Important to society: About 15 to 20 percent of couples in the West have trouble having children. Aleksander Giwercman believes that it is a common disease like others and is important to prevent from both medical and socio-economic points of view. These treatments are quite expensive and not so effective. In addition, patients often need to go through many treatments and our understanding of why so many have problems is too low. “If we want to prevent involuntary childlessness, we must first gain a better understanding,” he says. The Öresund region is also at the forefront of reproductive research, which is a good starting point for investing in becoming a world leader in the field. If we succeed, we will not only be happy with the researchers, but also the patients. It is also good purely socio-economic as it can lead to cooperation with industries, which in turn can lead to more efficient and cheaper treatments and new jobs. Synergies across the strait: The project is based on two initial co-operation projects. The third project will now seriously finalise the vision of a cross-border joint reproductive medicine centre. This requires more researchers and more research projects. The project must lead to at least 20 research projects and 25 research posts. They also work to include younger researchers and thereby ensure that skills live on. — Once we have selected the research projects that we are going to profit, we have focused on those projects where we can achieve synergies with working across borders, and where we can add different competencies. Focus on understanding and prevention: At the end of the project, the goal is to have strengthened cooperation with the business community and simplified for patients to receive care in both countries. In addition, they hope that many international actors look to the Öresund region for inspiration.

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