Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common and serious complications of diabetes. Although it is known that the risk varies between men and women, little research has been conducted into the causes of these differences. Dr. Oana-Patricia Zaharia is addressing this question in a research project that has now received an Excellence Fellowship from the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation. The total of nine individual grants are being awarded to physicians with outstanding scientific achievements in order to support the further development of particularly promising research initiatives.
Oana-Patricia Zaharia’s project explores how sex hormones influence the risk of cardiovascular disease in different diabetes subtypes and whether this enables early warning signs to be spotted. The analysis of two large patient cohorts—people who have had a heart attack and people newly diagnosed with diabetes—is intended to help develop precise, sex-specific approaches to prevention and treatment.
Research for Sex-Sensitive Care
“With this project, we can sustainably improve individual and sex-sensitive care for people with diabetes, which motivates me greatly. Fellowships provide valuable freedom to rigorously pursue complex scientific questions,” says Oana-Patricia Zaharia. Prof. Michael Roden, Scientific Director and Spokesman of the Board of the DDZ and Director of the Clinic for Endocrinology and Diabetology at the UKD, congratulates Zaharia: “Patricia Zaharia’s project addresses an important topic in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Her results can contribute to personalized treatment strategies for diabetes in the long term.”
Oana-Patricia Zaharia studied human medicine in Bucharest and Leipzig before working as a study doctor at the DDZ for several years. She then completed her further training in internal medicine, endocrinology, and diabetology at the UKD. Since 2024, she has worked there as a senior physician and continued her scientific work at the DDZ study center.
