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DAAD Promotes Muscle Research Project at the DDZ

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is promoting the cooperation of researchers between the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), a DZD partner, and the University of Oslo in Norway. During the next two years, professors of the DDZ and the University of Oslo will collaborate in a project on muscle research.

“Studies have shown that physical activity improves blood glucose levels and reduces the risk of diabetes,” said Professor Hadi Al-Hasani, director of the Institute of Clinical Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry and study leader of the muscle research project at the DDZ. “However, the positive effects of physical activity on the metabolism differ from individual to individual and in some cases are nonexistent,” Al-Hasani added. With the DAAD funding, these processes shall be studied in more detail with regard to the muscles. The molecular mechanisms of physical activity shall be investigated at the cellular level in the muscle research project. Studies have already shown that the glucose and lipid metabolism is stimulated by physical activity, and the influence on the body is approximately as effective as a drug treatment of diabetes.
Through the joint project, the researchers hope to develop a better understanding of the responsible processes in the muscles. From the results of the research project, individual strategies shall be derived for an exercise therapy to reduce the risk of diabetes. “The question is why some people respond better to physical training than others,” said Al-Hasani, summarizing the project. Through collaboration with researchers from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Oslo, the DDZ is extending its cooperation networks at the European level, enabling it to develop new methods in the research of cell cultures.

DAAD research mobility – The Project-based Personnel Exchange Program (PPP):
To strengthen the scientific relations between German and foreign institutions and to promote the activities of research partners, the DAAD supports high-level binational research projects through its Project-based Personnel Exchange Program (PPP). The project funds are intended for the mobility costs of the German participants incurred in the research project and enable a research stay for young scientists involved in the research project at the foreign partner institution. The PPP is a program for the training of young scientists.