Anders Rosengren

Project summary

New drugs for type 2 diabetes through network analysis

More than 250 million people have type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of the disease is rising rapidly, and it is expected to become one of the greatest global health challenges in the years ahead. Existing drug treatments target only the symptoms rather than the underlying disease mechanisms. Their limitations are evident from the serious complications experienced by many patients, including heart attacks, stroke, kidney failure and impaired vision. There is therefore an urgent need for new treatments for type 2 diabetes that can prevent severe complications and improve patients’ quality of life.

 

In this research project, we use a new strategy to enable more targeted treatment of the underlying disease mechanisms. Rather than studying one gene at a time, as is most common today, we will investigate larger networks of genes. Using this approach, we have recently identified two new genes associated with type 2 diabetes. These genes will be studied in detail. We will also study patients with type 2 diabetes and map changes in gene networks in relation to disease progression.

 

The aim is to identify key genes within these networks and study them in detail in the laboratory in order to discover new therapeutic targets. This represents a novel way of directly linking clinical disease progression with network analyses and cellular studies. In the long term, the goal is to translate the most promising findings into clinical trials involving patients.

 

The research project aims to improve our understanding of common diseases such as type 2 diabetes and has the potential to generate innovations in the form of new protein targets for diabetes treatment. The vision is to develop a platform for interdisciplinary diabetes research and to create a stimulating and creative research environment.