HELIX awarded major STINT grant to build a long-term research platform with Brazil

Karolinska Institutet (KI) is leading HELIX – A Knowledge Ecosystem between Sweden and Brazil in Life Science and Health project, which has been awarded a strategic grant from STINT. The project will receive SEK 10 million to establish a long-term, scalable collaboration platform between Sweden and Brazil in life science and health.

Out of only two funded proposals, HELIX secured a significant share of the total funding, highlighting the project’s high quality and strategic relevance.

This funding gives us valuable momentum to deepen our partnerships within Brazil, supporting more coordinated efforts between research, healthcare, and innovation in our ongoing work says KI academic coordinator Pontus Naucler.

A broad Swedish–Brazilian partnership

With KI as the coordinating institution, and in close collaboration with Lund University and Halmstad University, HELIX brings together a broad network of universities, hospitals, research institutes and industry partners from both Sweden and Brazil. 

Together, they will develop a shared platform integrating research, education, innovation and healthcare, with the aim of creating more sustainable and strategic international partnerships.

Three thematic focus areas

The initiative is organised around three thematic areas: data-driven health and artificial intelligence, translation and clinical integration, and health system resilience in the context of demographic change.

Within these areas, the project will host joint workshops, launch seed funding calls, and develop new forms of collaboration across academia, healthcare and industry.

Focus on mobility and knowledge exchange

A central component of HELIX is the development of a structured mobility programme for PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers, co-funded and coordinated across academia, the public sector and industry.

The ambition is to establish a model for international mobility that is both sustainable in the long term and scalable to other countries and collaborations.

A model for future global collaboration

In the longer term, HELIX aims to serve as a model for how universities can engage more strategically in global collaboration, while strengthening Sweden’s position in international life science and health.