The Swedish Infrastructure for Medical Population-Based Life-Course and Environmental Research consists of two large population-based longitudinal cohorts and three region-specific sub-cohorts, an extensive biobank with over 800,000 biospecimens of blood, urine, fat biopsies, saliva, stool and DNA, and a large database that now also includes a growing component of omics. This national infrastructure initiated in 1987 includes information about 110,000 men and women from the regions of Uppsala, Västmanland and Örebro.

Over the years, the participants have undergone repeated examinations. The SIMPLER database has been updated annually against national registries at the National Board of Health and Welfare and also with additional clinical data from national quality registries. The population-based longitudinal design, virtually complete follow-up through the registries, and the large biobank provide the basis for this unique infrastructure.

SIMPLER is a Swedish Research Council-funded national research infrastructure. Uppsala University is the host and has the principal responsibility for it. SIMPLER is organised as a consortium of four universities (Uppsala University, Örebro University, Chalmers University of Technology and Karolinska Institutet) that support its activities by direct involvement in its maintenance and development. In addition, the infrastructure is supported by contributions from the regions of Uppsala (ALF), Västmanland and Örebro for clinical and biological data collection and storage.

The main purpose of the infrastructure is to provide users with integrated longitudinal lifestyle data, registry information, and molecular measurements to foster high-quality research regarding the genetic and lifestyle causes for the development and consequences of late-onset disorders.

In February, the Swedish Research Council approved continued funding of SIMPLER during the six-year period from 2023 through 2028. The total budget is SEK 229 million, with half of the funding received from the Swedish Research Council and half from the consortium.