Today in Rimini, the 31st National Congress of the Italian Society of Diabetology (SID) opened, running through October 31 at the Rimini Palacongressi. The edition’s theme, “Conciliare efficacia ed efficienza” (Harmonizing efficacy and efficiency), highlights the need to transform therapeutic and technological innovations into concrete opportunities for all people with diabetes, while ensuring the sustainability and equity of the National Health Service.
According to SID president Raffaella Buzzetti, diabetology is undergoing a profound transformation thanks to new drugs, advanced technologies, and increasingly personalized approaches. The real challenge, however, is to ensure that these advances are accessible to everyone and do not remain the privilege of a few.
«Glycemic control is no longer enough. We want and have the tools to protect the heart, kidneys, and liver, prevent complications and lengthen healthy life. But scientific progress must become an opportunity for everyone, not a privilege for a few».
Three keywords for the future of diabetology
The scientific program, coordinated by Andrea Natali with the contribution of the elected coordinator Gian Paolo Fadini, revolves around three concepts identified by Buzzetti as guiding the diabetology of the coming years: anticipate, personalize, and democratize.
Anticipate means recognizing risk early and intervening before irreparable damage occurs; personalize means choosing therapies based on the patient’s clinical and biological characteristics and any complications; democratize means breaking down barriers that limit access to innovation.
«Balancing efficacy and efficiency means exactly this: transforming scientific progress into good medicine and good medicine into good health care».
Artificial intelligence: opportunities and responsibilities
The opening of the congress is devoted to the role of artificial intelligence in diabetes research and care. Among the international guests is Tadej Battelino from the University of Ljubljana, one of the world’s leading experts in the field.
AI-based tools are being applied to analyze data from glucose sensors, to predict hypoglycemia, to identify individuals at risk of complications early, and to explore new therapeutic targets. Yet, as Buzzetti emphasizes, it is essential to validate the effectiveness, safety, and applicability of these tools in clinical practice.
«Artificial intelligence can become an extraordinary ally for the diabetologist, but it must and can never replace clinical judgment.»
Obesity and diabetes: more than weight loss
Considerable attention will be given to the evolution of incretin-based drugs, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, and to the new multi-agonist molecules under development. The scientific sessions will also analyze oral formulations, strategies to preserve muscle mass, and the maintenance of long-term results.
For the SID president, the effectiveness of these therapies cannot be evaluated solely in terms of kilograms lost.
«The goal isn’t simply to slim down or to control blood glucose, but to live longer and better».
Cell therapies: new horizons for Type 1 diabetes
Among the most innovative topics of the congress is the possibility to restore insulin production through the transplantation of insulin-producing cells derived from stem cells.
The topic will be explored in an international session coordinated by Piero Marchetti and Lorenzo Piemonti, with the participation of Eelco de Koning from Leiden University and Hanne Scholz from Oslo University Hospital. Central to the discussion are also the strategies to make these cells less vulnerable to autoimmune attack.
Commenting on the preliminary results available, Buzzetti nevertheless urges caution.
«We are facing results that would have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago».
Early screening: Italy put to the test
Another central topic concerns the early diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes through the search for specific autoantibodies.
An international session chaired by Raffaella Buzzetti and Paolo Fiorina will analyze the prospects for national screening in light of Law 130/2023 and the D1Ce Screen project, dedicated to collecting evidence on the application of screening in the Italian population.
Experts believe that identifying at-risk individuals early can enable more effective specialist monitoring and reduce the risk of disease onset presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis.
Not just glucose: protecting the heart, kidneys, and liver
A major thread of the congress will focus on protecting target organs. The available evidence shows that SGLT2 inhibitors and some incretin-based therapies confer benefits beyond glycemic control, affecting cardiovascular risk, kidney function, and metabolic liver diseases, including MASLD and MASH.
According to Buzzetti, the very way we evaluate therapeutic success has changed.
«For many years we measured therapeutic success mainly by HbA1c. Today we must also measure it in terms of heart attacks prevented, heart failure avoided, progression of kidney disease prevented, in the prevention of complications and in the extra years of healthy life gained».
The risk of a two-speed diabetology
One of SID’s main messages concerns equity in access to innovations. Medicines, glucose sensors, microinfusion devices, and automated systems are changing how the disease is managed, but territorial and organizational disparities persist and can translate into unequal access to care.
The topic will also be addressed by Alanna Weisman of the University of Toronto in the reading “Perugia Award,” focusing on the gap between the availability of technologies and their actual adoption among people with Type 1 diabetes.
«We cannot accept a two-speed diabetology. Innovation must not depend on a patient’s ZIP code, income, or the ability to navigate the healthcare system».
Research, youth and innovation
The congress will devote ample attention to independent research, precision medicine, genetics and immunology of diabetes, to new biomarkers, and to work presented by young researchers.
In the presidential address on October 30, titled “The SID: guiding change, safeguarding values,” Buzzetti will reaffirm the society’s role in promoting innovation, international collaboration, and dialogue with institutions.
«SID must be the place where new ideas are born, debated, tested, and transformed into opportunities for people with diabetes – she concludes. – Because the true measure of innovation is not how far science can go, but how many people it can reach. Only then can scientific progress become real social progress».
Abbonati a Karla Miller
