Jakob Appel Østergaard and Esben Søndergaard from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital have just received a scholarship from the Danish Diabetes Association for their research.

2014.05.13 | Anders Corydon Frederiksen

Registrar, PhD and postdoc Esben Søndergaard (left) and MD, PhD and postdoc Jakob Appel Østergaard (right), both from Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine.

The Danish Diabetes Association recently announced that Jakob Appel Østergaard and Esben Søndergaard will each receive a scholarship of DKK 250,000 towards their continuing research into diabetes. The funds will, among other things, be used for a research stay in the UK and the USA.

Research into diabetics with kidney disease

Jakob Appel Østergaard’s specialist area is diabetic kidney disease. This kidney disease affects up to 30 percent of all diabetic patients, which means diabetes is the most frequent cause of kidney failure.

The scholarship from the Danish Diabetes Association can help Jakob Appel Østergaard and his team of researchers to investigate the causes of diabetic kidney disease, and also to potentially contribute to developing new medicines to fight the disease.

”We have previously shown that parts of the immune system can cause damage to the kidneys in connection with diabetes. With the scholarship we will have an opportunity to examine what lies behind the connection between the immune system and diabetic kidney disease. In the long term this can hopefully mean new medicine that can prevent diabetic kidney disease,” explains Jakob Appel Østergaard.

The scholarship from the Danish Diabetes Association also means that Jakob Appel Østergaard can carry out research in London in the UK, where he will collaborate with international colleagues.

Prospect of better diabetes treatment

The other scholarship recipient Esben Søndergaard conducts research into body fat turnover among overweight people and people with diabetes. Together with the research group he investigates how people with Type 2 diabetes regulate the absorption of fat after a meal.

”The results of the project can help us to understand how patients with Type 2 diabetes absorb and regulate fat after having consumed a meal. The aim is to improve the treatment of the disease. In addition, we will be able to better understand why some overweight people develop Type 2 diabetes, while others do not,” says Esben Søndergaard.

As part of the project Esben Søndergaard will have a one-year research stay at Mayo Clinic, which is located in the state of Minnesota in the USA. The scholarship is a great help for his research stay in the USA.

The Danish Diabetes Association presented the scholarship to Jakob Appel Østergaard and Esben Søndergaard on Thursday 24 April, 2014 at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.

Jakob Appel Østergaard was born on 24 June, 1979 in Silkeborg, and Esben Søndergaard was born on 2 July, 1977 in Aarhus.

Further information

MD, PhD, postdoc Jakob Appel Østergaard
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine
Direct tel.: +45 7846 1615
Mobile: +45 2091 2226
jakob.oestergaard@ki.au.dk

Registrar, PhD, postdoc Esben Søndergaard
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine
Direct tel.: +45 7846 1631
esben.sondergaard@ki.au.dk