Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)

With about six million diagnosed cases and an estimated equally high number of unreported cases, diabetes is one of the most widespread diseases in Germany. Not only diabetes itself, but also complications of the disease restrict the quality of life of patients significantly. The treatment poses challenges to physicians and health care systems alike:

• To the healthcare systems due to massive costs
• To physicians due to the lack until now of basic and effective therapies.

Health Research Program

With the health research program, the Federal Government is seeking to respond to new challenges in healthcare. The centerpiece of the initiative is composed of the six German Centers for Health Research, in which university and non-university research shall be concentrated to study the major widespread diseases. The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) already began their work in 2009. The centers for the areas of cardiovascular, infection, cancer and lung research were founded in 2011.