The prestigious grant programme was set up this year to advance current understanding of beta cell research which is crucial to advancing treatment, and possibly developing a cure for diabetes since beta-cell dysfunction is a major factor contributing to the development of this disease. The three-year programme will award a total of 1,400,000 for outstanding research in diabetes. A number of grants of up to 100,000 each have already been awarded and these will be announced at this year's European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) conference in Athens. More awards will be made next year. The current winners represent a number of European countries with grants being awarded to outstanding and vital medical research from Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and France (see back page for more details). In a tight competition, proposals from many researchers across Europe were first assessed by a peer review committee before the final decision was made by the Partnership Board, composed of representatives from both Merck Sharp & Dohme and EFSD.

Professor Philippe Halban, Chair of the EFSD Advisory Board comments, "Despite its great potential European diabetes research suffers from under-funding both at European Commission and national levels. This partnership focuses on one of the most important areas of advancement in diabetes research, beta cell function, survival and regeneration. The EFSD has entered into many partnerships but this is the first to focus exclusively on islet studies. Making this grant available to key researchers in this field will allow European diabetes research to be more competitive and hopefully move further towards a cure for diabetes".

The EFSD/MSD Programme Awards are intended to stimulate and accelerate European research into all aspects of beta cell function and survival. MSD and the EFSD have created this partnership to promote increased European research in diabetes, to raise awareness of the burd
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Contact: Catherine Pannell
cpannell@hillandknowlton.com
44-207-413-3059
Merck & Co., Inc.
13-Sep-2005

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