The Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded a grant of DKK 195 million for establishing a national, brickless Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy (DDEA) with an executive office based at Odense University Hospital.

The purpose of the Academy is to develop and strengthen the quality of Danish diabetes and endocrine research and research-based education.

The Academy will focus on building capacity by developing the skills, talent and careers of early-career researchers in diabetes and the broader endocrinology through the distribution of grants, educational and networking activities as well as national and international collaborations across research fields with universities, hospitals, the life science industry and nongovernmental organizations.

The DDEA will grant support for scholarships and fellowships and provide courses, symposia, workshops and other outreach activities.

“The DDEA aims to support the ability of talented young researchers to perform high-quality research, with the short-term impact of enhancing the quality of research education, strengthening networking and collaboration and increasing the supply of world-class research talent. In the long term, we expect this to lead to significantly improved prevention and treatment strategies benefitting people with or at risk of diabetes and other endocrine diseases,” says Martin Ridderstråle, Senior Vice President, Medical Science, Novo Nordisk Foundation.

“The Academy will also create a vital opportunity for strengthening collaborations between diabetes and the other very important endocrine areas,” Martin Ridderstråle added.

An efficient facilitator
The DDEA is a continuation and a further development of the Danish Diabetes Academy (DDA), which the Foundation has supported with a total of DKK 357 million since its inception in 2012. The DDA has since become an efficient facilitator within diabetes research, unifying academia and university hospitals around educational and networking activities for early-career researchers. During its 10-year lifespan, the DDA has awarded more than 250 scholarships and fellowships for PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting professors and has initiated more than 250 educational and networking events with more than 10,000 total participants.

The DDEA will build on the strategy, experiences and achievements realised by the DDA.

“We are very proud and excited that the Novo Nordisk Foundation is recognizing the importance of the DDA to Danish research by not only awarding us a new grant but also providing the opportunity to broaden our scope even further and continue as a completely new academy,” says Allan Flyvbjerg, Chairman of the Academy.

The strategy for DDEA has been prepared in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including the academic communities, the university hospitals, the life science industry and the Danish Endocrine Society.

The Foundation also supports the Danish Cardiovascular Academy and the Danish Data Science Academy. The three academies will develop and facilitate several synergetic activities together.

Further information

Christian Mostrup, Senior Programme Lead, Communications, +45 3067 4805, [email protected]