Background

The goal of BSS 2004 is to furnish participants with broad insights into the many facets of diabetes etiology and pathogenesis and deep knowledge of methodological approaches to improve our understanding of diabetes treatment.

The incidence rate of diabetes has taken epidemic proportions and the number of new patients will bring an already pressured health care to a collapse unless the trend is broken. The complexities of the diabetes syndromes require advance training of young researchers. This is particularly critical now that diabetes which traditionally was classified into two types are shown to have multiple and heterogenous etiologies. Novel treatment approaches are developed based on advanced bench-to-bedside research.

The aim is ambitious to provide the students with novel insights and approaches to bridge the bench with the bedside. The course will be important to clinicians and clinician scientists since it will provide insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying diabetes and its complications. At the same time, basic researchers will be given the necessary broad and deep understanding of the many faces of diabetes in the clinic to focus research efforts towards basic mechanisms as well as prevention and cure.

The students will be guided through 1) etiological mechanisms and the heterogeneity of diabetes syndromes, current and future methods of diagnosis and classification as well as approaches to dissecting diabetes genes and the interaction between genetic susceptibility and environment; 2) pathogenetic mechanisms of beta cell function and failure whether genetically mediated or driven by autoimmunity as well as insulin action mechanisms and failure; 3) novel treatment approaches and outcome as well as investigator-initiated clinical trials; 4) pathogenetic mechanisms and genetic susceptibility to diabetic complications and 5) emerging new research into prevention and cure of diabetes syndromes including the promise of stem cells and beta cell transplantation.

Diabetes has an impact on all walks of biomedicine and clinical practice and the disease is rapidly becoming the number one economic burden to the Society. BSS 2004 will therefore fill an ever expanding need to train and educate of current and future biomedical researchers, clinicians and clinician scientists. This research training course will address a wide scientific community.

The Lab Course will introduce the students to relevant emerging technologies of biomedical research including molecular diagnostic tools and molecular approaches to study diabetes etiology and pathogenesis. The Lab Course will take place at selected laboratories at the Universities of Lund, Copenhagen and Kiel. The selection of students will be made on the basis of previous research experience. Researchers and clinician scientists from less favored regions in Europe will be given preference. Education in novel approaches are important as instrumentations and equipment are expensive and will not be available locally but the students will learn and use accessible core facilities to promote their own research progress. They will also get to know experts in the fields and establish networks.