The European Commissions 6th framework programme has awarded 11.7 million euro to a large project on obesity and type 2 diabetes research. 24 European institutions including three companies are participating in the project.

The project, which will run for five years, gathers many of Europe’s top researchers within obesity research. The European Commission selected the project for funding as it will attempt to identify novel drug targets to fight the obesity epidemic. These drug targets will be part of the body’s control system to defend its normal weight, the set point for body fat. Once a chronically overweight state has been reached, the brain interprets reduced food consumption as a threat to the individual’s survival.

In response to the reduced energy intake, the control system in the brain increases appetite and reduces fat burning to maintain body weight. The researchers’ goal is to find four to five new genetic targets in the body which can be influenced by medicines to cure obesity and obesity-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.

“New research on obesity shows that weight loss doesn’t only depend on the individual’s willpower. In order to stop the obesity epidemic we also need good medicines. The first step in developing such medicines is to understand which systems in the body regulate appetite and body weight,” says project coordinator Professor Suzanne L Dickson at the Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University in Sweden.

Obesity and its consequences, particularly type 2 diabetes, is a large and serious problem today. One billion people in the world are more than 10% overweight and 300 million are obese (over 20% overweight). Obesity is the greatest cause of type 2 diabetes, and weight reduction would be beneficial for many diabetic patients. The grant is the largest the European Commission has ever given to obesity and diabetes research and it is currently the largest award in the area of chronic diseases (excluding cancer). In her role as the project coordinator Suzanne L Dickson, a recently appointed Professor at the Department of Physiology at Göteborg University, is responsible for overseeing the research as well as all administrative and financial aspects of the grant. These include receiving the money on behalf of the Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University and distributing it to the 24 participating institutions.