Treatment Strategies - Meeting Review
Agency (EMA) and the Directorate General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission were represented, to discuss the future prospects of research funding and the approval of new drugs in Europe. Patient associations also had a great presence at the meeting. Today, diabetes is considered to be a manageable health problem, with patients playing a leading role in their treatment. Indeed, patients have joined forces and assembled in associations, within which they have become actively involved in pushing health practitioners, hospitals and governments to place a greater emphasis on the human dimension of this disease. The 49th EASD provided a great meeting point for diabetologists and diabetes patients work together to improve education and patient care. Prof. Andrew J.M. Boulton, the President of the EASD, opened the meeting at the Claude Bernard Hall, welcoming the attendees. Researchers from academia and the pharmaceutical industry around the world then had the opportunity to present new developments in fields such as epidemiology, prevention, therapeutic education, health organisation, and basic and clinical research.
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Treatment Strategies - Diabetes
Of the 2321 abstracts received, the Scientific Programme Committee, under the Chairmanship of Prof. Mark Walker, selected 1361 for presentation this year. All abstracts were considered anonymously and were scored by 40 referees. The Programme Committee Members designed the programme and created Oral and Poster Sessions based upon the abstracts. The scientific programme was comprised of six parallel tracks, which included inspiring symposia, keynote lectures and debates covering basic and clinical science. The scientific programme reflected the on-going efforts to understand, cure and prevent diabetes. This year the 49th EASD celebrated the 200th birthday of Claude Bernard, and named the main hall in his honour. The Association awards major prizes annually, including the Claude Bernard Medal, the Minkowski Prize and the Albert Renold Prize Lecture. The recipients of these prizes were then asked to deliver a lecture at the annual meeting. Furthermore, it was 30 years from the
inception and planning of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), and the final results of the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) presentation, which took place at the 34th EASD annual meeting in Barcelona. In recognition of these two large landmark studies in clinical diabetology two symposia discussed new data resulting from these trials at the 49th EASD. In one symposium, which was chaired by O.B. Crofford and D.M. Nathan, the results of the CCT conducted in patients with type 1 diabetes, which established the modern management theories for this disease, was reviewed and updated. In the other, chaired by A. Adler and I.W. Campbell, the results of the UKPDS on the management of type 2 diabetes were revisited. Communication and interaction of peers, colleagues and other scientists was facilitated with the Virtual Meeting app and website. The President, Andrew J. M. Boulton, encouraged attendees to download the app and to look through the lectures and posters available on the EASD Virtual meeting website. Once again, the 49th EASD provided an excellent opportunity for attendees to communicate with peers, colleagues and other scientists both during and after the annual meeting.