New research center for diabetes opens

New research center for diabetes opens: The German Center for Diabetes Research, founded in 2009, officially starts its work from today. The goal should be to bundle research results.

The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), founded in 2009 and headquartered in Munich, was officially opened today. The research officially begins today. The center aims to fill the gaps in the research chain and „shorten the path from basic research to patient use“ said Hans-Ulrich Häring from the University of Tübingen, one of the main coordinators of the center.

Diabetes on the way to widespread disease
How important this center is in the further development of diabetes research is shown by the current rates of increase in new cases. Meanwhile, eight million Germans in Germany are affected by diabetes, as the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Heilga Braun, warned. „Therefore, it is important that we create new perspectives for the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of diabetes mellitus with the German Center for Diabetes Research“ said Braun. Researchers have been observing for some years that type II diabetes is becoming a so-called widespread disease in western industrialized countries. Above all, this is due to insufficient exercise and an unhealthy diet. To explore new diabetes therapies and improve care and health care, the center promotes health research concepts.

Five research institutions work together
Currently five research institutions are bundled in the newly created center. These facilities are intended as „equal partners“ act. Participants in the research center are the Helmholtz Zentrum München, the German Diabetes Center Düsseldorf, the German Institute for Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke, the University of Tübingen and the University Hospital Dresden. For the start-up phase, the project will receive 33 million euros from the federal government and the federal states involved. The federal government takes over the lion's share of 90 percent.

After the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, the DZD is the second German Center for Health Research. Four other centers to fight important diseases in the areas of infection, lung disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer will be established next year. „With these centers, we are creating a new structure in health research in Germany“, as Braun emphasized. (sb, 09.11.2010)

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