SUMMIT is a pan-European research consortium that receives support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). It aims at identifying markers that predict the risks of developing diabetes chronic micro- and macro-vascular complications with focus on Diabetic Nephropathy (DN), Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), and Cardiovascular disease (CVD). 

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A collection of patient samples from different cohorts has been analyzed by combining a variety of high-throughput techniques encompassing genomics, lipidomics and transcriptomics. Cross-fertilization of the genetic information and biomarker panel with SUMMIT developed imaging methodologies and animal models for diabetes complications, helps determine the association of the discovered markers with the complications. Furthermore, the SUMMIT knowledge integration team, besides aiding in marker discovery also seeks to predict the outcomes and the risk of development of the complications. With such robust methodological, data analysis and clinical expertise, SUMMIT is therefore expected to deliver at the end of the project’s lifetime a set of markers able to better predict disease progression and drug effects, thereby shorten clinical trials.​

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To achieve its project goals, SUMMIT draws on the scientific expertise and clinical resources of nineteen leading universities and research institutes, six pharmaceutical companies and one SME (small and medium sized enterprises).

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The project started on November 1, 2009.

Click here to read more about SUMMIT's major achievements until now