DKK 149.8 million for new research academy
NEXUS Research Academy will strengthen researchers in the post-PhD career stage and collaboration across the cardiometabolic research field....
Posted on October 1, 2026
Doing a PhD means becoming highly specialized. For several years, you immerse yourself in one subject, building expertise in a specific area of research.
But diseases do not necessarily adhere to the same boundaries.
Karen Hvid is in the final year of her PhD. She studies remnant cholesterol – cholesterol carried in triglyceride-rich particles in the blood – and its link to cardiovascular disease. People with metabolic syndrome tend to have higher levels of remnant cholesterol, which may help explain part of their increased cardiovascular risk.
Moving between metabolic and cardiovascular research has changed the way Karen looks at her own work.
“When you pursue a PhD, you spend many years digging deep into a subject, and slight changes in perspective can truly change the trajectory of what you read, learn and how your understanding develops.”
Rather than looking only at the cardiovascular consequences, Karen has become increasingly interested in the metabolic processes driving the dysregulation of cholesterol in the first place.
Karen moves between scientific communities in cardiovascular research, diabetes and endocrinology.
And the same research can look different depending on who is in the room.
“They will ask different questions, so I need to prepare more thoroughly on different aspects of the project – either on the cardiovascular aspect or on the metabolic aspect. This has been a huge learning opportunity, since these events further shape my understanding and add to my own perspective.”
And in Karen’s field, the overlap is difficult to ignore.
“Our fields are deeply intertwined. The pathological processes that we work with often affect not only one organ system, but several.”
Karen sees the fields moving closer together at major international scientific meetings too. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity increasingly feature at cardiovascular meetings, while cardiovascular disease is an important topic at diabetes congresses.
That connection is also visible in Karen’s own research.
In a recent study published in Cardiovascular Diabetology, involving more than half a million people, Karen and her colleagues found that higher remnant cholesterol was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in people with metabolic syndrome.
Their analyses suggest that remnant cholesterol may account for part of the excess cardiovascular risk associated with the condition.
Karen is one of six researchers across DDEA and the Danish Cardiovascular Academy (DCA) to receive a DDEA/DCA Cross-Academy PhD Scholarship – created specifically to support research connecting cardiovascular disease with diabetes, metabolism and endocrinology.
Now in the final year of her PhD, Karen has published three manuscripts and received a Young Investigator Fellowship from the European Atherosclerosis Society.
For Karen, becoming more specialized in her own research has sometimes meant stepping into another field – and being asked questions she might not otherwise have been asked.
On World Heart Day, her experience shows what bringing cardiovascular research and diabetes and endocrinology together can add: new questions, new perspectives and a broader understanding of your own research.
DDEA and the Danish Cardiovascular Academy also bring early-career researchers from the two fields together through joint events.
In October, researchers will come together at the Basic Cardiometabolic Research PhD Course: Organ Cross-Talk. In November, the two academies will offer the Data Visualisation Workshop and Navigating Your Career Successfully, bringing researchers together around skills and career questions that cut across research fields.
Interested in meeting researchers outside your own field? Explore our upcoming events and save the dates for 2027.
EAN: 5798 0022 30642
Reference: 1025 0006
CVR: 29 19 09 09
