Novo Nordisk Foundation

Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen was appointed as CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation in March 2021.

Novo Nordisk

Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen joined Novo Nordisk in 1991 as Head of Growth Hormone Research. In 1994, he was appointed Senior Vice President of Diabetes R&D, and in November 2000 he became Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. In this capacity, he was responsible for global drug and device research, CMC and global development, medical affairs, regulatory and safety within Novo Nordisk. During this tenure, he oversaw the development and approval of more than 20 medicinal products.

Other positions and management duties

Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen is currently a member of the board of BB Biotech AG. He has been chairman of the board of the University of Copenhagen as well as President of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences, and served on the editorial boards of several international, peer-reviewed journals. In addition to this, he has been Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen since 2000.

Education

1991: DSc (Veterinary Science), the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

1989: PhD, the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark

1986: DVM, the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen

Contact

PA Heidi Toft
toft@novo.dk
+45 3079 0250

Responsible for the development and implementation of the strategic, tactical and operational HR agenda, including:

• Organizational development
• Business partnering
• Leadership development
• Talent attraction and management
• Learning and development
• Recruitment
• Performance management
• Pay systems and incentives

Joined the Foundation in 2019.

Contact

Novo Nordisk Foundation

Søren Nedergaard joined the Novo Nordisk Foundation in March 2021 as the Chief of Staff and was appointed as the COO in august 2021.

Career in Science, Higher Education & Innovation

Prior to joining the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Søren Nedergaard served as Director of the Rector’s office at the University of Copenhagen where his responsibilities included counselling the Rector and Executive Management and the University’s Board of Directors, implementation of the university’s strategy and supporting collaboration across faculties on the development of the university.

Søren has held various positions under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science during 2001-2018, including as Head of Division for Policy and Coordination in the Permanent Secretary’s Department, and Head of Division for Higher Education.

He had a posting from 2006-2009 as the first Technology & Research Attaché at the newly established Innovation Centre Denmark in Silicon Valley (US) working to create ties between universities in the Bay area and Denmark. Søren Nedergaard was the Director for the Association of University Colleges working with rectors and colleges to support the development of the training of teachers, nurses, and other health care and welfare sector professionals in Denmark.

Other positions and management duties

At the University of Copenhagen Søren was the university’s Senior Officer in the European University Alliance LERU and the global university alliance IARU.

From 2018-2021 he was a member of the Board of Greve Gymnasium including a period as acting Chairman of the Board.

Education

Søren Nedergaard holds a BSc and MSc in Political Science from Aarhus University, Denmark.

Contact

Contact PA

Head of Communications in the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Novo Holdings;

• Responsible for internal and external communication activities
• Responsible for stakeholder relations of the Foundation and Novo Holdings
• Responsible for public affairs in the Foundation and Novo Holdings

Joined the Foundation in 2016.

Contact

Responsible for establishing and awarding grants and activities by the Novo Nordisk Foundation within biotechnology research. The area covers industry, food, plants and environment. The activities include:

• Strategic actions, such as Novo Nordisk Foundation centres and Challenge programs within biotechnology
• Open competition grants
• Contact to stakeholders within the national and international biotechnology research landscape

Joined the Foundation in 2019.

Contact

Responsible for establishing and awarding grants and activities by the Novo Nordisk Foundation within natural, technical and interdisciplinary research. These include

• Strategic actions, such as Novo Nordisk Foundation centres and Challenge programs within the nat-tech areas
• Open competition grants, including the Investigator carrier programs within nat-tech and the interdisciplinary Synergy programs
• Contact to stakeholders within the national and international nat-tech research landscape

Joined the Foundation in 2019.

Contact

Contact

pch@novo.dk

Head of Medical Science, one of the Foundation’s Programme Areas, and it’s four teams Biomedicine, Translational Medicine, Clinical Medicine, and Strategic Partnerships, and member of the Executive Leadership Team.

In charge of the Novo Nordisk Foundation activities relating to open calls within the medical sciences and strategic initiatives such as the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, the Danish National Genome Center, the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Genomic Mechanisms of Disease, the Novo Nordisk Foundation reNew Center for Stem Cell Medicine, the six Steno Diabetes Centers in Denmark and Greenland, the Danish Diabetes Academy, and the Danish Cardiovascular Academy.

Joined the Foundation in 2020.

Contact

Overall responsible for Legal and Board secretariat function in the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Novo Holdings A/S.

Attorney.

Joined the Foundation in 2019.

Contact

Head of the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s grants within natural science education and outreach and within art and art history research and activities related to these areas.

• Responsible for Education & Outreach activities
• Responsible for grants within Art and Art History

Joined the Foundation in 2015.

Contact

Responsible for leading Novo Nordisk Foundation strategic initiatives within infectious diseases, vaccine research and epidemic preparedness. Main focus areas are vaccines, immunity and anti-viral drug discovery.

Activities include:

• The Pandemic Antiviral Discovery initiative
• Development of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Institute for Vaccines and Immunity
• Contact to, and interactions with stakeholders within the national and international vaccines and immunity research landscape

Joined the Foundation in 2021.

Contact

Responsible for developing and establishing a new national centre for promoting healthy weight through collaborative research, innovation and development of evidence based interventions and prevention efforts with a focus on children and their families.

Joined the Foundation in 2020.

Contact

Responsible for the Foundation’s impact assessments, analyses, CSR and data reporting, including:

• Impact measurement and monitoring (“impact assessment strategy”)
• Reporting on the Foundation’s grants and grant-giving policy
• CSR reporting
• Data warehouse and reporting to the Foundation

Joined the Foundation in 2014.

Contact

Responsible for activities within the Novo Nordisk Foundation regarding innovation and entrepreneurship.

Joined the Foundation in 2016.

Contact

Support the development and implementation of research and development programs within global health. Develop partnerships with academic institutions, authorities and civil society organizations in Denmark and abroad within global health. Contribute to the globalization of the Foundation’s activities.

Joined the Foundation in 2022.

Contact

• Heading the development, management and overview of the NNF Portfolio and the NNF Portfolio Board, warranting strategic alignment of high-quality projects.
• Chairing the committee for unsolicited applications.
• Coordinating leadership meetings between the NNF, universities and Novo Group companies.
• Heading the development and execution of Bioscience Cluster activities to stimulate collaboration and to increase international impact and branding of research in Denmark.

Joined the Foundation in 2018.

Contact

Responsible for the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s grant management, including:

• Management and organisational development of the Grant Management Team
• Establishment of the Grant Management Team as the point of entry for applicants and grant holders
• Preparation of grant agreements and follow-up on active grants
• Ongoing development and implementation of grant management processes, internally as well as externally

Joined the foundation in 2021.

Contact

aha@novo.dk

Contact, PA

PA & Team Coordinator, Gunnar Näsman
+45 2444 4405
gna@novo.dk

Chairman, MSc, member of various boards.

Lars Rebien Sørensen has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since 2017.

Please contact the Chairman via   
PA Trine Sewohl
+45 2065 5135
tse@novo.dk

Member of the Board of Directors of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since 2014.

Employee representative, Environmental Consultant.

Member of the board of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since March 2022. Last elected in March 2022 for a four-year term.

Professor, MD, Ph.D., Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Clinical Neurology, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Member of the Board of Directors of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since 2013.

MSc, Copenhagen Business School.

Member of the Board of Directors of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since 2018.

Employee representative, Auditor.

Member of the board of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since March 2018.  Last elected in March 2022 for a four-year term.

Professor, Dr.med.

Member of the board of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since 2018.

MSc,University of Copenhagen. CEO.

Member of the board of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since 2013.

Employee representative, Electrician.

Member of the board of the Novo Nordisk Foundation since March 2022. Last elected in March 2022 for a four-year term.