European Association for the Study of Diabetes

Origins

The European Association for the Study of Diabetes [http://www.easd.org (EASD)] was founded in Montecatini, Italy in 1965 with Dr. Joseph Hoet as Founding President. The aims of the Association are to encourage and support research in the field of diabetes, the rapid diffusion of acquired knowledge and to facilitate its application.

Membership

The Association is based on individual membership and embraces scientists, physicians, laboratory workers, nurses and students from all over the world who are interested in diabetes and related subjects. An Active Member is an individual holding a medical degree or a scientific worker with an academic degree who has paid the current annual membership fee. Members are entitled to vote at the General Assembly, which is held during the Annual Meeting and are eligible for election to the Council and to the Executive Committee. Membership also provides the possibility of attending the Annual Meetings of the Association at a considerably reduced registration fee. Active members receive monthly the official journal of the Association, Diabetologia, which publishes articles on clinical and experimental diabetes and metabolism. In addition there are rapid communications and review articles on selected topics of current interest by leading experts in the field.

The Active Membership of the Association currently numbers more than 6,400 individuals from over 110 countries throughout the world. The Association also bestows Honorary Membership on any individual whose medical or scientific contribution to diabetes research has been outstanding; the first Honorary Member of the Association was Charles Best.

Structure

The Association is governed by a Council and an Executive Committee chaired by the President.

The current members of the Executive Committee are:

President: Prof. Prof. Ulf Smith, Göteborg
Vice President: Prof.Christian Boitard, Paris
Vice President: Prof. Andrew J.M. Boulton, Manchester
Honorary Secretary: Prof. Micharl Stumvoll, Leipzig
Honorary Treasurer: Prof. Giatgen Spinas, Zurich
Chair, PGESC: Prof. John Nolan, Dublin
Editor-in-Chief, Diabetologia: Prof. Edwin Gale, Bristol

The current members of the Council are:

Expiring 2009
V. Pirags, Riga
F. Pociot, Gentofte
M. Porta, Turin

Expiring 2010
F. Ashcroft, Oxford
F. Bosch, Barcelona
V. Petrenko, Kaunas
A. Siebenhofer, Graz

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the Association is held in a different European city each year. Abstracts are invited from members as well as non-members. All abstracts are anonymously reviewed by a Programme Committee, chaired by the Honorary Secretary. The EASD was one of the first international Associations to introduce the anonymous review of abstracts. The high quality of scientific research presented at the Annual Meetings is attested to by the increasing participation. The scientific programme of the Meeting, providing titles of the lectures and symposia, is made available online at a very early stage. Once confirmed, the speakers' names are made available and about 6-8 weeks before the start of the Meeting. All abstracts accepted for presentation can be accessed online via the online programme. A search function assists the visitor in finding abstracts in their field of interest.

To assist the participation of young presenting authors, the Association has established a Travel Fund from which over 100 awards are made available for each Annual Meeting. The next Annual Meeting will be held in Rome, Italy, in 2008 and in Vienna, Austria in 2009.

The Association awards four major prizes annually: the Castelli Pedroli Prize, the Claude Bernard Medal, the Minkowski Prize and the Albert Renold Prize Lecture. The recipients of these prizes deliver a lecture at the Annual Meeting.

Post Graduate Education

The Association holds annually an EASD Scientists Training Course and a Robert Turner Clinical Research Course to attract new talent to diabetes research in different centres throughout the world. Nominations for all the above are invited from EASD members. Together with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRFI) the EASD organises a yearly Workshop in Oxford, United Kingdom where 20 seniors and fellows come together from all over the world.

The Association also organises Extra-European Post Graduate Courses.

The EASD Post Graduate Education Subcommittee (PGESC) is active in organising workshops and courses for clinicians and educators.

Study Groups

The Association has following [http://www.easd.org/easdwebfiles/studygroups/studygroupsnav.html Study Groups] : Artificial Insulin Delivery System (AIDPIT); Diabetes Education Study Group (DESG); Diabetic Pregnancy Study Group (DPSG); Diabetes Optimisation through Information Technology Study Group (DOIT); Diabetes Neuropathy Study Group (NEURODIAB); EASD Eye Complication Study Group (EASDEC); European Diabetic Nephropathy Study Group (EDNSG); EASD Islet Study Group; European Diabetes Epidemiology Group (EDEG); Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group (DNSG); Psychosocial Aspects of Diabetes (PSAD); Hypertension in Diabetes Study Group (HID); Diabetic Foot Study Group (DFSG); EASD Study Group on Primary Care Research in Diabetology (PCD); Diabetes Economic and Care Delivery (DECADE); Genetics of Diabetes Study Group; Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Study Group (D&CVD).

[http://www.europeandiabetesfoundation.org European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes]

In 1999, the EASD increased its commitment to stimulate diabetes research in Europe by creating the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD). The Foundation is closely related to the EASD; it is governed exclusively by the Executive Committee of the EASD, which itself is under the close supervision of the EASD Council and the General Assembly of the EASD. EFSD operates on a strictly non-profit basis under the control of the relevant authorities for charity and taxation.

External link

[http://www.easd.org European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)]