Danish Diabetes Academy awards funding to research projects in life science industry for the first time
A total of four Danish life science companies have just received funding from the Danish Diabetes Academy. The grants have been awarded to support projects in different fields of diabetes research. The sum awarded by the Danish Diabetes Academy amounts in total to 2,800,000 Danish kroner, which will fund four PhD positions and one postdoctoral position in the following companies: Bainan Biotech ApS, Gubra, Novo Nordisk A/S and Elkærholm. All five projects are also supported by Innovation Fund Denmark, which was a pre-requisite for applying for an industrial grant from the Danish Diabetes Academy.
The five projects being supported span a wide range. For example, one project will investigate whether aronia berries may have a blood sugar-lowering effect on people with type 2 diabetes, while another is about taking the first step toward a new drug treatment for the osteoporosis that can affect people with diabetes.
Since 2012, the Danish Diabetes Academy has awarded grants to young diabetes researchers at Denmark’s higher education institutions. However, this is the first time that the Danish Diabetes Academy has supported projects in the industry.
Allan Flyvbjerg, Chair of the Danish Diabetes Academy Board of Directors and Director of the Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, is delighted that the Danish Diabetes Academy can now launch research projects in collaboration with the life science industry.
‘We at the Danish Diabetes Academy have a new special objective of working more closely with the life science industry. A close collaboration between universities, university hospitals and the industry is thus a focus area to which we attach very high priority. Politically, there is a great desire in Denmark for us to be seen as a strong life science nation, and we at the Danish Diabetes Academy are proud to be able to contribute to that’, he says.
Read more about the individual research projects that have recently received support: https://www.danishdiabetesacademy.dk/dda-funded-researchers/industrial-grants-2019
In November, the Danish Diabetes Academy will again open applications for industrial grants. It will be possible to apply for grants for a total of three PhD studentships and five postdoctoral fellowships. It will again be a condition that the companies are supported by Innovation Fund Denmark. Further information can be found here: https://www.danishdiabetesacademy.dk/news/danish-diabetes-academy-dda-supports-new-industrial-phd-and-industrial-postdoc-projects