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World's Top Diabetes Scientists to Convene in Seattle to Launch
International Alliance to Fight Global Diabetes Epidemic
Alliance to Focus On
Clinical Research of Underserved Populations |
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SEATTLE – More than 100 of the world's foremost diabetes
experts from more than 20 countries and six continents will meet in
Seattle this October to develop an ambitious clinical research
agenda to address the prevention, treatment, and cure of diabetes.
To spearhead the effort, the scientists will launch the first-ever
global alliance focusing on the clinical research of diabetes in
indigenous, disproportionately-impacted and underserved populations
throughout the world.
"Diabetes is a worldwide epidemic growing at
alarming rates," said Dr. Paul Robertson, incoming President-Elect
of the American Diabetes Association and President and Scientific
Director of the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute (PNDRI),
which is convening the Magnuson Congress for a Global Diabetes
Alliance, named for U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson - a co-founder
of PNDRI, who died of complications from diabetes in 1989. The
Congress will be held at Seattle Bell Harbor International
Conference Center on October 22-23, 2007. Congress participants will
include top experts from the biomedical and social sciences, as well
as public health and pharmaceutical fields.
"The response from top experts from around the
world to develop a global, multidisciplinary, collaborative endeavor
focused on clinical research on diabetes has been overwhelming,"
Robertson said. "Everyone recognizes the pressing need to expand
clinical research of diabetes, especially in populations that are
disproportionately impacted by the disease but not typically
included in research. This approach will extend clinical research to
areas of the world in need and broaden our knowledge of the causes
and manifestations of diabetes overall. This will lead to greater
insights into the disease and better approaches to its prevention
and treatment."
"The need for an international, collaborative
alliance focused on clinical research to help curb the disease could
not be more urgent," said Pierre Lefèbvre of Belgium, immediate past
president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and an
invited speaker at the Magnuson Congress.
The key goal of the Congress will be to outline a
collaborative, multidisciplinary scientific research agenda with a
particular focus on underserved populations. The agenda will help
guide the formation of a global diabetes alliance. The Alliance's
first priority after its launch will be to raise the funds necessary
to implement the research agenda.
"There's a huge need to look at minority and
developing country populations that haven't traditionally been
included in research," Lefèbvre added. "Diabetes has been long
perceived as a disease of affluence. However, diabetes is spreading
most rapidly in poorer countries."
According to the World Health Organization (WHO),
seven out of the top 10 countries with the largest diabetic
populations are located in the developing world. Countries such as
India and China with the largest populations of people with diabetes
are experiencing rapid increases in the prevalence of the disease.
Currently, 31 million people in India and 20 million people in China
have diabetes. By 2030 these numbers are projected to jump to 79
million people in India and 42 million people in China.
Worldwide, more than 180 million people have
diabetes, and this figure is estimated to more than double within 30
years. In 2007, the world is estimated to spend at least $232
billion to treat and prevent diabetes and its complications,
according to the IDF. By 2025, this lower-bound estimate will exceed
$302.5 billion. Without urgent action, the WHO projects that
diabetes deaths will increase by more than 50 percent in the next 10
years
Confirmed Congress participants to date include
some of the world's foremost diabetes experts and scientists from
around the world, such as:
About the Warren G.
Magnuson Congress for a Global Diabetes Alliance
The Congress is named after the late U.S. Senator
Warren G. Magnuson, who represented Washington State in the U.S.
Senate longer than anyone else in history. Throughout his tenure,
Senator Magnuson was committed to innovative health policy. One of
the first bills introduced by Senator Magnuson led to the foundation
of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Senator Magnuson also
secured millions of dollars in federal appropriations to support the
NIH and helped to establish the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research
Institute (previously known as the Pacific Northwest Research
Foundation). The Magnuson Congress aims to create a scientific
research agenda emphasizing clinical research on diabetes. Congress
participants will discuss and select research projects that will
provide data that translate into improved diabetes prevention and
care for underserved populations disproportionately affected by
diabetes worldwide. The Congress will launch a global diabetes
alliance to secure funding for and oversee the research agenda. The
Magnuson Congress is supported by funding from the U.S. Congress.
For more information please visit
www.pndri.org/news/2007/magnuson/.
About PNDRI
PNDRI is a 50 year-old independent non-profit
biomedical and clinical research center located in Seattle and
founded by Dr. William Hutchinson, Sr., who also founded the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The mission of PNDRI is to
support and conduct basic and clinical studies that lead to the
prevention and cure of diabetes and its complications. PNDRI's
acclaimed team of 85 doctors and researchers is committed to
applying scientific discoveries to the real improvement of health
for people and families living with diabetes. For more information
on PNDRI and diabetes, please visit
www.pndri.org.
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