Amsterdam University Medical Centers, location AMC
University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam with around 25,000 students, 5,000 staff and a budget of over €487 million, ranks among the largest comprehensive universities in Europe. It belongs to the League of European Research Universities. Academic Medical Centre (AMC) operates as a University Medical Centre. It has an established international reputation in health research. It has fruitful links with many other universities and institutions throughout the world. Department of Public Health in AMC has a strong track record on ethnicity and health research. It has carried out large-scale studies among multi-ethnic populations in the Netherlands and investigations in Africa.

Role of AMC in this project
AMC will be responsible for the general management (WP1), data collection in the Netherlands (WP2.4), data storage and overall analyses (WP 7), and lead the epigenetic factors associated with T2D and obesity analyses (WP4) and further participate in and disseminate the project results (WP8).

www.amc.nl

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi (KNUST)

KNUST, Kumasi is Ghana’s second largest university established in 1952. It comprises 6 colleges and 24 faculties with 664 teaching staff. In the last decade research has become a major component of the university’s activities. The School of Medical Sciences has several faculties. KNUST has had a longstanding collaboration with AMC, and several partners on several areas of research. It has a network of cooperating regional hospitals as well as a large teaching hospital in Kumasi. KNUST is partner in many European research projects e.g. on Buruli ulcer, helminth infections and malaria. Within the EU funded FP6 project BURULICO, KNUST developed the structures required for case finding, appropriate specimen collection, laboratory confirmation, treatment of patients and data management.

Role of KNUST in this project
KNUST will lead data collection in rural and urban Ghana of WP2 and contribute to all WPs.

www.knust.edu.gh

Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin

The Charité is Germany’s largest university medical centre comprising more than 100 clinics and institutes and has an international reputation for excellence in clinical services, research and training. The Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health (ITMIH) has long-standing experience in collaborative studies in low and middle-income countries in­cluding large-scale genetic surveys, treatment trials, and multicentre control interventions. The Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition (WP3) is a proven expert in terms of diabetes and obesity research including studies on the interaction of genetic and envi­ronmental factors in the development of those disorders. Notably, ITMIH and KNUST have been collaborating in communicable disease research for more than a decade, and both Charité Institutions and KNUST recently performed a project on diabetes, obesity and hypertension in Ghana.

Role of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Charitéwilllead data collection in Germany of WP2. It is also responsible for biochemical characterisation (WP3) of the RODAM project and will contribute to all WPs.

www.charite.de

London School Of Hygiene And Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

The LSHTM is Britain’s national school of public health and a leading postgraduate institution worldwide for research and postgraduate education in global health. LSHTM has an international reputation as a centre of excellence in epidemiological research and research training. Key strengths are its multi-disciplinary nature and links with researchers around the world. We have a strong commitment to partnership with institutions in low and middle income countries to support the development of teaching and research capacity. Its research funding now exceeds Euro70 million per annum, much of it from highly competitive national and international sources. Non-communicable diseases in low income countries and genetic epidemiology are key strategic areas for development at LSHTM.

Role of LSHTM
LSHTMwilllead data collection in England of WP2. It is also responsible for the assessment of life-style, SES and psychosocial factors(WP6) of the RODAM project and will contribute to all WPs.

www.lshtm.ac.uk

The Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University Of Ghana

The Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) was established in 1972 by the United Nations as a research and postgraduate training institute in population and health studies. RIPS became a semi-autonomous University of Ghana institution in the 1990s, part funded by the university and through external grants and foreign fees. RIPS remains the only postgraduate degree conferring programme in population studies in West Africa. Over the years, RIPS has demonstrated its expertise in managing field projects and has a close working relationship with African IN-DEPTH sites. The research interests of the academic staff cover a wide area in population and health studies, ranging from family planning, through internal and external migration to chronic diseases. A current relevant project is the collaboration between RIPS and the Development Research Centre (DRC) on Migration, Globalization and Poverty. Key areas of research include: re-integration of return migrants from the North, mobility of the highly skilled in Ghana, international comparisons of return to poor countries.

Role of RIPS in this project
RIPS leads a WP on assessment of perception & knowledge of obesity & type II (WP7) and contribute to all WPs.

www.ug.edu.gh

Deutsches Institut Fuer Ernaehrungsforschung Potsdam Rehbrucke

The Department of Molecular Epidemiology is part of the larger German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE), Potsdam-Rehbruecke devoted to nutrition research. This institute is a state-wide funded research institution of the “Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz Society”. The institute has an outstanding reputation in nutritional epidemiology as an important partner in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Research interests of the department concern methodology such as dietary pattern analysis and biomarkers of diet as well as aetiological research primarily aiming to investigate interactions among nutrition, biomarkers, and genes in the development of T2D.

Role of DIfE
Dlfe will lead nutrition & dietary behaviour WP and contribute to WP2-7.

www.dife.de

SourceBioscience

SourceBioscience is a premier provider of genome research services in Europe and was founded in 2007 as a spin-off from the not-for-profit RZPD (German Resource Center for Genome Research). As a heritage of the Human Genome Project imaGenes not only manages one of the most comprehensive clone collections in the world but actively develops a portfolio of mostly unrestricted clone resources of mammalian and vertebrate genes for the use in academic and pharmaceutical research. All resources are linked to the major international gene databases and are offered via its web-based clone search engine. Another expertise of Soruce Bioscience features services on major technology platforms. Affymetrix, Agilent and NimbleGen microarray services are offered for a broad range of functional analyses including epigenetic screening. Conventional and latest next generation sequencing projects incl. bioinformatics analyses can be handled on Source Biosience’s ABI and illumine systems, respectively. Researchers are provided with highest quality resources and innovative technology with maximum flexibility and cost effectiveness. Source Bioscience has actively ushered cooperation projects with many leading scientists, life science centres and companies to constantly provide innovative technologies and essential molecular resources.

Role of SourceBioscience 
Leads (epi)genetic laboratory analyses (WP4).

www.lifesciences.sourcebioscience.com
The RODAM study was supported by the European Commission under the Framework Programme (Grant Number: 278901), 
 the European Research Council (Grant Number: 772244) and the Amsterdam UMC.