Ambitious New Facility for Brain Health in the Central Denmark Region

27-02-2026

“One in three Danes will be affected by a brain disorder during their lifetime. We already know a great deal, but many important questions remain unanswered,” says Professor Jens Christian Hedemann Sørensen, Chair of the Danish Neuroscience Center (DNC).

“DNC will be the place where we find those answers – together.”

At the center, psychiatric and somatic research will take place side by side, in line with the new Danish Health Reform.

The new building will make collaboration easier and shorten the path from new knowledge to improved treatments and new research initiatives are already taking shape.

In the Central Denmark Region, newly diagnosed patients with schizophrenia are being followed to map the early development of the disease.

“This gives us a unique opportunity to gain insight and, in the long term, develop better treatments,” says Research Nurse Anne Lund Kobberø from the Department of Psychoses at Aarhus University Hospital.

Professor Per Borghammer’s Parkinson’s research is also attracting international attention. His studies of the earliest signs of the disease are reshaping our understanding of how Parkinson’s develops.

“This is knowledge that could benefit patients long before the symptoms become apparent,” he says.

For staff and citizens across the region, DNC will provide direct access to the latest research and offer a shortcut to collaborations that might otherwise take years to establish.

Clinicians will gain easier access to researchers, and patients in the region will gain faster access to new treatments.

The new building will also house HJERNEUNIVERS - The Brain Universe where research will be dis-seminated to school classes, patients, and citizens. Here, knowledge will come alive through interactive in-stallations, lectures, and dialogue.

“The more we talk about the brain and brain disorders, the less stigma and taboo there will be,” says Jens Christian Hedemann Sørensen, Professor and Chair of DNC.

DNC will position Aarhus and the Central Denmark Region as a hub for groundbreaking brain research. The collaboration between Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital, and industry will create a strong foundation for new treatments, innovation, and the education of future researchers.

“This is not just a boost for research. It is a boost for the entire region – and for the patients we are here to serve,” says Thomas Balle Kristensen, CEO at Aarhus University Hospital.