SWAN PIs awarded Centre of Excellence

Research Council of Finland selected 11 new Centres of Excellence, one being the MetaScale - Centre of Excellence in Metabolic Integration which is formed by SWAN PIs Pekka Katajisto, Anu Suomalainen Wartiovaara, Elina Ikonen, Ville Hietakangas, Emmi Helle, Rafa Najumudeen & Diego Balboa.

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The Centre of Excellence in Metabolic Integration (MetaScale) studies how metabolic networks are formed during cell differentiation and how they respond to external changes. Metabolism functions abnormally in many diseases, such as diabetes or mitochondrial diseases. The Centre of Excellence also aims to understand how metabolic networks are disrupted in these disease states. This knowledge is applied to the development of new targeted therapies.

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Metabolism is the chemical basis of life. In a living organism, such as humans, metabolism is divided into compartments. Within these compartments, each organelle, cell and tissue has its own internal metabolism. The separate metabolic compartments are interconnected, as they exchange metabolic intermediates with each other in a precisely regulated manner. The compartments form an interconnected integrated metabolic network, where a change in one compartment also affects another compartment.

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The Centre of Excellence in Metabolic Integration is funded by the Research Council of Finland during 2026–2033. The aim of the Finnish Centre of Excellence Programme is to strengthen Finnish research by raising its level, contributing to its regeneration and promoting its societal impact. The research groups granted CoE funding by the RCF are scientifically first-rate research communities that have capacity for renewal and high societal impact. A CoE is a research community that is striving for or already at the international cutting edge of research in its field.