Lund University has received a long-term grant from FORTE to establish a new national research centre dedicated to interdisciplinary research on cancer and equity in women’s health. The centre, known as CIRCE (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Cancer and Equity), will receive over SEK 70 million over five years and aims to deliver more equitable, evidence-based, and person-centred healthcare across the life course.
CIRCE is led from the Faculty of Medicine, but researchers from Lund University School of Economics and Management (LUSEM) will play a key role in the initiative. We spoke to two of them: Therese Nilsson, Professor of Economics, and Luciana Quaranta, Associate Professor of Economic History. Both are principal investigators (PIs) in the centre's work packages, contributing deep expertise in health economics, demography, and life-course analysis.
“This is a unique opportunity for great interdisciplinary research," says Therese Nilsson.
"CIRCE brings together scholars from medicine, psychology, economics, demography, gerontology and beyond. That’s one of the reasons we believe the proposal was successful — it breaks traditional academic silos.”
Life-course research meets clinical science
Luciana Quaranta's research focuses on how early-life conditions shape health outcomes later in life. She sees CIRCE as a chance to connect her long-term research interests with clinical and epidemiological work in new ways.
“With this collaboration, we can bring our perspectives and methods into dialogue with clinical expertise on women's cancers,” she says.
“We’re contributing with a great data infrastructure, historical knowledge, and life-course perspectives that allow us to explore causes and consequences of disease in a broader way.”
Nilsson and Quaranta are PIs in the work package on prevention and risk models, where they will analyse how early-life exposures and reproductive health relate to cancer risk in later life. Their contributions rely on large-scale longitudinal and register-based data, including material from the Centre for Economic Demography at LUSEM.
“We can trace individuals and families across generations using our unique historical and modern data sources,” says Nilsson.
“This makes it possible to study not just individual outcomes, but also intergenerational patterns and socioeconomic inequalities related to cancer.”
Data as a bridge between disciplines
A key strength of LUSEM’s involvement is the data infrastructure managed by the Centre for Economic Demography. Both researchers stress that their ability to link historical birth records with modern health and socio-economic data is what makes their contribution so distinctive.
“This infrastructure is quite unique, even internationally,” says Quaranta.
“We are working on extending the Swedish medical birth register backwards in time, using digitised archival records, and linking that to individuals’ life trajectories.”
This long-term view is critical for understanding cancers that typically appear late in life. By examining health determinants from birth — and even previous generations — the researchers aim to identify both risk factors and potential inequalities in outcomes and access to care.
Building a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers
Beyond research, CIRCE also includes a work package dedicated to education, communication, and collaboration. This will involve creating new PhD courses and recruiting doctoral students and postdocs who can work across faculties and disciplines.
“One of our hopes is to help train the next generation of scholars”, says Nilsson.
“This centre is not just about producing research; it's about shaping future ways of working and the next generation of researchers.”
Recruitments will begin in 2026, with discussions already underway about where positions will be based and how best to structure the collaboration.
Looking ahead
Both researchers are excited about what CIRCE could achieve long-term — not just in cancer research, but in advancing knowledge on women's health more broadly.
“Our starting point is cancer, but the interdisciplinary approach and the focus on equity and the life-course perspective can expand to many other areas of women’s health,” says Quaranta.
“We hope this is the beginning of a broader movement.”
“This grant allows us to deepen existing collaborations, build new ones, and approach complex health challenges from multiple angles," adds Nilsson.
"It's an opportunity we’re truly grateful for.”
FORTE — the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare — funds research that supports societal development. In its 2025 Centre Grants call, it selected 11 new national research centres across four thematic areas. CIRCE is one of two centers coordinated from Lund University.