News
The State has approved an allocation of 5 million for the financing of the National Center for Precision Medicine for Diabetes (PreciDIAB). Supported from the start by the CHU and the University of Lille and led by Professor Philippe Froguel, renowned researcher and current director of the European Institute of Diabetes Genomics (EGID), this project aims to make the Lille site a global research center for the treatment and prevention of obesity and diabetes, for the benefit of Hauts-de-France thanks to the development of collaborations between the University Hospital of Amiens and the University Hospital of Lille. This project mobilizes, in addition to the State endowment, more than 15 million euros in subsidies from the European Metropolis of Lille (€ 11 million) voted last Friday, from Amiens Métropole (€ 1 million), from the Hauts-Region. de-France and the FEDER (€ 4 million) in addition to the € 51 million of equity provided in particular by the CHU and the University of Lille.
Diabetes, a major public health issue
Overweight and obesity affect an estimated 1.4 billion people worldwide, a number expected to exceed 3 billion by 2030 according to WHO forecasts. Risk factors for many chronic diseases including diabetes, overweight and obesity are a scourge with major economic and medical consequences. Steadily increasing, the number of diabetics in the world now reaches 425 million. An estimated 5 million people died of diabetes in 2015, significantly more than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. In France, 3.3 million people are affected and medically monitored, or around 5% of the population. To these people monitored, we must add 20 to 25% of undiagnosed people, which brings the number of diabetics in France to more than 4 million.
Challenges and skills in Hauts-de-France
With a rate of 6.2%, the Hauts-de-France region has the highest prevalence in mainland France. Diabetes is therefore a major public health issue and a priority research area for the entire national territory and especially in Hauts-de-France. In 2009, three renowned researchers – Professors Philippe Froguel, François Pattou and Bart Staels – decided to create EGID, the first research institute in France dedicated specifically to diabetes and its complications. This European Institute for Diabetes Genomics is unique in France and in 2011 obtained the LABoratoire d’EXcellence (Labex) label, renewed in 2019 for 5 additional years.
The PreciDiab project supported by the State and local actors
As an extension of this dynamic, the PreciDIAB project was selected by the University and the University Hospital of Lille to respond, in 2017, to the second call for projects “Hospital-University Institutes” (IHU2) of the Future Investments Program (PIA). Led by Philippe Froguel, director of the EGID Labex, the excellence of the project was recognized by the international jury and PreciDIAB was awarded the National Center for Precision Medicine for diabetes, along with PRISM and THEMA, respectively for solid cancers ( Villejuif) and leukemia (Paris) with an allocation of 5 million Euros for each of the National Centers. The National Research Agency (ANR) has today formalized this allocation following the signing, on September 23, of a consortium agreement uniting seven establishments around the PreciDIAB project: the I-SITE Université Lille Nord- Europe, the Center Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, the University of Lille, the Institut Pasteur de Lille, the Center Hospitalier Universitaire Amiens-Picardie, the Francophone Society of Diabetes, the French Federation of Diabetics and the Eurasanté Economic Interest Group.
