The Swedish medical university, Karolinska Institutet, has received a grant
of 1.6 million Euro from the Stichting af Jochnick Foundation for research into
the fundamental causes of diabetes. The grant will make it possible to use
unique methods to study how the release of insulin is regulated in living
organisms - and this will create new opportunities for developing more
effective drugs against diabetes.
Diabetes is an extremely common condition, and the number of people
affected is increasing catastrophically all over the world. It has been
calculated that in 2025, 300 million people will suffer from the disease, which
not only causes major personal difficulties, but also places an enormous
economic burden on the healthcare system. Professor Per-Olof Berggren at
Karolinska Institutet has worked for many years mapping the signalling systems
that regulate the release of insulin, and his research has led to several
revolutionary discoveries.
"Diabetes is a global problem, and this means that it is vital that we
understand the causes of the disease, in order to be able to offer more
effective treatment. This is why we find it particularly important to support
Professor Berggren's innovative and creative research," says Robert af
Jochnick, who established the Jochnick Foundation together with his brother
Jonas.
Diabetes arises when the body cannot regulate the sugar level in the
bloodstream after eating. The level of sugar in the blood increases since there
is insufficient insulin available, which is a hormone that normally reduces the
blood sugar concentration and transports the sugar into cells. The support from
the Jochnick Foundation will provide Professor Berggren and his group with the
opportunity to use unique microscope technology to study, in detail and for
long periods, how various signals control the release of insulin in living
animals. This knowledge will not only be crucial to our understanding of the
underlying causes of diabetes, but it will enable us to identify new targets
for new, more specific and more effective drugs against diabetes.
"We are very grateful that the af Jochnick family has shown its
confidence in us in this way. The generous grant will enable us to hold a
long-term perspective in our research projects. This enables us to work with
greater boldness, using more advanced technology in experiments in living
organisms," says Per-Olof Berggren.
The President of Karolinska Institutet, Professor Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson,
welcomes the initiative: "Karolinska Institutet has a long tradition of
world-leading diabetes research, and it is for this reason particularly
gratifying that we will now have the opportunity to take our successful
research forwards. This very generous grant from the af Jochnick Foundation
will give us this possibility."
The Stichting af Jochnick Foundation is based in
the Netherlands, and was established in 2004 by the af Jochnick family. The
purpose of the Foundation is to contribute to the greater good by supporting
projects that focus on children, youth, education and world health. To be
closely involved in selected projects the Foundation has chosen to fund
projects directly, rather than to donate to established charity organisations.
Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's
leading medical universities. It accounts for over 40 per cent of the medical
academic research conducted in Sweden and offers the country's broadest range
of education in medicine and health sciences. Since 1901 the Nobel Assembly at
Karolinska Institutet has selected the Nobel laureates in Physiology or
Medicine.