A new academy to strengthen the quality of diabetes research and investigate ways to prevent and treat the disease is being launched in Denmark on 1 September.
The Danish Diabetes Academy is being established following donations of more than DKK200m (€26.8m; US$33.2m) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and DKK40m from the Juvenile Disease Research Foundation. Danish universities are providing more than DKK50m.
The Danish Diabetes Academy aims to create a world-class research and education environment with the best researchers from Denmark and abroad.
Dean Allan Flyvbjerg, Aarhus University’s representative on the board of the Diabetes Academy, said: ‘The academy is open to all diabetes researchers who would like to make use of its offers. The vision is that collaboration cutting across the faculties and national borders will create a synergy effect that strengthens research in Denmark and internationally.’
The academy also aims to ensure diabetes research in the future by offering a number of new research positions and events targeting talented young researchers, and providing them with the best possible opportunities for upskilling their qualifications and pursuing a career in this field.
Over the next five years, the venture will contribute to financing approximately 150 new research positions in the form of 90 PhD positions, 50 postdoctoral fellowships, a number of professorships and some short-term visiting researcher positions for scientists from abroad.
More than 300 researchers from universities and hospitals across the country will be affiliated to the Diabetes Academy.
‘The Danish Diabetes Academy will be a combined virtual unit that provides researchers with an optimal framework for taking up the fight against diabetes. The aim with the academy is to strengthen the growth layer of research, and ensure research of the highest international quality,’ said Ulf Johansson, chairman of Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Professor Henning Beck-Nielsen, Odense University Hospital, who will be director of the Academy, added: ‘Diabetes is a major threat to our health, and the Danish Diabetes Academy provides an opportunity to find new solutions in the fight against type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This will benefit both diabetes research and diabetic patients throughout Denmark.’