Research at Steno Diabetes Center

Tradition and history
Steno Diabetes Center is a research hospital in the classical sense, where research and development go hand in hand with patient care, and basic research matches high international standards. This tradition goes back a long way: already in the 1930s, when Niels Steensens Hospital was established in 1932 and Hvidoere Hospital in 1938, research and development was an integrated part of the activities. Independent basic research institutions soon emerged from both hospitals, and both institutions contributed with conclusive results to the treatment of diabetes and to the understanding of the causes of the disease. This research tradition has continued after the merger of the two hospitals in 1991.

Research in almost every area of diabetes
The treatment of diabetic kidney diseases both in Denmark and abroad has played a decisive role in the research at Steno Diabetes Center. The mapping of the HLA-systems and the immune system’s importance in the development of type 1 diabetes stems largely from research carried out at Steno Diabetes Center, as does the identification of several genes that influence development of special forms of type 2 diabetes.

Research management
The research activities are conducted in accordance with the centre’s research strategy.The research management consists of the heads of the three research groups and a Clinical Research Unit and is headed by Peter Rossing.

Collaborators
Steno Diabetes Center is associated with the University of Copenhagen through the university’s hospitals management forum (KUHL). Each research group forms part of a national and international network of researchers. The research groups are described in more detail later in the text.