- We have set the bar high. We very specifically aim at making a difference for diabetes patients by the end of this eight year program. We need to find smart ways to use all resources we collectively have, academia and industry, to meet that goal, says Maria Gomez, professor and coordinator of Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC).
The planned work is divided into different work packages and was presented during a two day consolidation meeting at the Clinical Research Centre in Malmö. The presentations not only served as introduction to the work to come.
- They really showed the wealth of exciting research on-going at the LUDC, and also the potential for and high interest in new collaborations and interactions, says Jens Lagerstedt vice coordinator of LUDC, who continues:
- The expectations are that the program will resolve many of the unknowns in diabetes, and to indirectly or directly contribute to new and better treatments for the different patient sub-groups. The industry and health care partners will be key to achieving these goals.
"If LUDC only knew what LUDC knows"
What was the most important conclusion from the meeting?
- In one sentense: ”If LUDC only knew what LUDC knows”. Getting all researchers involved together is a great way of making awareness and alignment and to create new initiatives and networks, says Martin Ridderstråle, Novo Nordisk.
He has high expectations on the future collaborations:
- From a scientific point of view it will be exciting to follow the deciphering of diabetes. The more we know, the better we will be able to support people with this disease. From an organizational point of view, it will be interesting to see how we can develop our ways of working and supporting each other.
Encourage collaboration
Jan Alenfall, Follicum, says creating an overall awareness of the different work packages and getting to know all the different stakeholders is important to drive the research forward and encourage collaboration.
- It will be exciting to see in the next years whether the outcomes of this joint efforts between academia and industry will teach us new alternative ways for helping people with this disease.
Maria Gomez resembles the consolidation meeting with a "renewal of vows":
- It was a confirmation that a year and a half after the submission of our LUDC-IRC proposal, we stay 100 percent committed to the overall goals of the project. I was thrilled to see how much has been accomplished already since the submission and the enthusiasm for the work ahead!