But for the past two decades, the Edgar National Centre for Diabetes and Obesity Research (EDOR), in Dunedin, has been working to make a difference to the lives of people affected by the diseases.
This month, EDOR staff are celebrating the centre’s 20th anniversary with a symposium, to be held at Otago Museum’s Hutton Theatre on November 24.
Keynote speaker and University of Glasgow researcher Prof Mike Lean will talk about his ground-breaking work on the remission of type 2 diabetes using the DiRECT approach — a dietitian-supported weight loss programme, which is being rolled out to all eligible people with type 2 diabetes in England.
A range of other speakers will cover topics on nutrition, sleep, obesity and influencing health policy.
Centre director Prof Rachael Taylor said the event would also provide a chance to reflect on what had been achieved to date by the centre, and there would be a strong focus on the centre’s future direction.
The centre was founded in 2003, principally through a gift from the Eion and Jan Edgar Charitable Trust, and became Otago’s first major development campaign led by inaugural director Prof Sir Jim Mann.
Prof Mann played a major role in providing advice at a national and international level, and contributing to the development of policy in the areas of diabetes and obesity.
Prof Taylor said EDOR had since become a unique New Zealand research institution and had achieved national and international recognition for its research findings. Its researchers come from a range of disciplines, including biomedical science, public health, biostatistics, Māori health, nutrition and sleep research.
The centre now comprises 24 research groups from 15 different University of Otago departments on the Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington campuses, and at the University of Glasgow.
External research funding obtained by EDOR members over the past 20 years totals more than $200 million, and more than 2000 articles have been published in international journals which have contributed to public policy and guidelines around the world.
