Page 3 - CIBERDEM-2015-eng

Scientific Director’s Presentation
2015 brought some significant changes in CIBERDEM’s organisational structure. A new Scientific Director was appointed, the membership of the Steering Committee was renewed, an area for Communication and Dissemination to Society was created and the scientific programmes were restructured. We also incorporated a new research group from the Instituto de Investigación Germans Trias i Pujol in Badalona, to which I would like to give a warm welcome to CIBERDEM. With the preparation in 2016 of a Strategic Plan for coming years the basic part of this structural renovation process of CIBERDEM will be completed. The death of Dr Anna María Gómez Foix, Principal Investigator of CIBERDEM, a research colleague for so many years, was very sad news for the CIBERDEM group of researchers.
In the area of scientific work, the achievements of CIBERDEM’s research groups can be seen in the following pages. As Scientific Director it has meant great satisfaction for me to see that CIBERDEM got under way the second stage in the epidemiological study [email protected] in 2015. This study, which was carried out in 2008-2010, enabled establishing the prevalence of diabetes in Spain and now, with the [email protected] II study, we will establish its incidence.
Cooperation between research groups of CIBERDEM and with groups from other CIBERs is an essential feature of our research work. As regards our projects in cooperation we should stress the start of the Excellence Integrated Project INFLAMES, coordinated by Dr Zorzano, Principal Investigator of CIBERDEM, with the aim of identifying the mechanisms of chronic inflammatory processes in prevalent diseases such
as type 2 diabetes and obesity and designing new therapeutic strategies for its treatment. CIBERDEM, CIBEROBN, CIBEREHD and CIBERESP research groups took part in the project.
CIBERDEM’s international presence has continued to be highly significant, with its participation in Euro- pean projects and the publication of a large percent- age of articles in cooperation with foreign groups. Through Dr Ángel Nadal, CIBERDEM has taken part in the second Scientific Declaration of the Endocrine Society on endocrine-disrupting chemicals, an area of great current interest.
In its training activities CIBERDEM has taken an ac- tive part in organising courses and symposia. We should stress the participation in the organisation of the International Symposium “Diabetes, Oral Health and Nutrition”, with the Joslin Diabetes Center of the University of Harvard and the Fundación Sunstar.
CIBERDEM has made a great effort to comuni- cate its activity in society, an effort which is going to continue in coming years. I would like to stress the agreement that we have reached with the Fed- eración de Diabéticos Españoles to disseminate the research and innovation work done by CIBERDEM in each issue of its journal Diabetes FEDE. The journal thus contains the CIBERDEM SPACE from now on.
The Report now being presented gives more detailed knowledge about the work done and achievements of CIBERDEM, and provides an idea of the impact and quality of the research that we are carrying out.
Eduard Montanya Scientific Director
CIBERSAM I Annual report 2015 I 3