EU earmarks funds for obesity research

The announcement ties in with today's World Diabetes Day, which aims to raise public awareness of the causes, symptoms, treatment and complications associated with diabetes. Obesity is one of the primary risk factors for the disease.

"Considerable progress in treating diabetes has been achieved through innovative research but more research is needed to address the unmet needs of patients,"​ said European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin.

Over the last four years, the European Union has invested €40 million in 19 projects in this field. The new 'Integrated Project' will kick off early next year, said the Commission.

The number of European citizens suffering from diabetes is rising, and one of the reasons for this is that their average weight has increased. With increasing weight and obesity, in many cases the body is no longer able to maintain normal (low) blood sugar levels. A promising treatment of "type 2" diabetes is weight reduction. However, it is often difficult for patients to reduce weight and even more difficult to avoid a rapid rebound after weight reduction, for instance at the end of a diet.

The scientific basis for the new project is the knowledge that specific brain regions play an important role in weight regulation. It aims at investigating the details of the regulatory circuits and to exploit this knowledge for the validation of targets for the treatment of obesity, using tools such as genomics, analysis of sample patient groups and genetic research in animal models.

Over five years, the project aims to validate several novel targets for drug development, said the Commission.