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Conference: Innovation in Diabetes Research

Around 150 experts from academia and industry convened on September 18th, 2013 in Lund, Sweden at the IDEA Summit (Innovation in Diabetes: European Action Summit 2013) to discuss strategies for the development of innovative diabetes therapies. To counteract the emerging worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes, research gaps and bottlenecks must be identified and overcome. The conclusion of the Summit participants: Academic research, hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry must collaborate more closely in the future.

The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) presented its successful concept for translational research at an exhibition stand. In the DZD, excellent university hospitals and research institutes pool their strengths to develop evidence-based prevention and therapy concepts using advanced biomedical technology. Through this close coupling of research and medical practice and the early involvement of industry partners, a faster transfer of the findings of scientific research to clinical practice can be achieved for the benefit of the patient. In a panel discussion of experts at the Summit, Professor Matthias Tschöp, director of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center in Munich and member of the DZD, emphasized the necessity for new research approaches – as the DZD enables – leading to innovative concepts, which will not only successfully treat diabetes, but if possible cure the disease.