Princess Anne opens new diabetes research centre in Dundee

The Princess Royal has formally opened the new Centre for Molecular Medicine at the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. The GBP3.5 million centre will focus on innovative research on diabetes and skin disease .
She was welcomed by the principal of Dundee University, Professor Peter Downes, and met with top leading academics as well as young researchers being supported by the Tayside branch of medical research charity Tenovus Scotland . Princess Anne is a patron of Tenovus Scotland, one of the fundraisers for the centre along with other large trusts.
Professor Peter Howie, the local chairman of the charity, helped organise the event. He stated that the charity aimed to support medical research of the highest quality, and that Tenovus Tayside had raised over GBP5.5 million in recent years, to allow them to fund 330 research grants to local researchers.
Dr Kazem Behbehani, the deputy director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), who is director general of Kuwait’s Dasman Diabetes Institute, was also present at the opening. The Dasman Diabetes Institute and Dundee University have built close links with academics and clinicians travelling between the two institutions and sharing expertise.
John Connell, dean of the school of medicine at Dundee University, commented “About a third of Kuwait’s population has diabetes. They reckoned they needed to do something. The Dasman Diabetes Institute is being supported by the Kuwaiti government for a major development in diabetes care and research and education .”