About us
IDF Europe is an inclusive and multicultural umbrella organization of 73 national diabetes associations in 46 countries across the European region, representing people living with diabetes and healthcare professionals. Through our activities we aim to influence policy, increase public awareness and encourage health improvement, as well as promote the exchange of best practice and high-quality information about diabetes throughout the European region.
IDF Europe receives funding from a number of different sources and projects. The Guiding Principles for IDF Europe Partnership can be found here.
For our registered status as a non-profit organisation, please read our Articles of Association.
For more information about IDF Europe’s activities, download the our Annual Financial Statement and Annual Report.
Our vision
Improve the lives of people with diabetes and those at risk.
Our mission
To be the voice of people living with diabetes and engage with them and all stakeholders in creating a person-centred diabetes ecosystem within an informed and health promoting environment.
Regional Council
The ultimate decision-maker in IDF Europe is the Regional Council which convenes all IDF Europe Members yearly. The Council reviews the Federation’s activities for the past year, discusses and adopts an operational plan for the next year, discusses and approves the budget, and elects its representatives in the Board of Management.
Each Country, represented by Members, has from 1 to 6 delegates, the same as for the IDF General Assembly, who represent the country.
For more information on IDF Europe’s Regional Council, contact us at [email protected]
Advisors to the Board
Subject matter experts may be appointed as Advisors to support the IDF Europe Board on specific matters of strategic importance which may arise during the Board term.
Advisors to the Board may be appointed at any time during the Board term and, unless otherwise specified, they carry out their role/assignments until the end of the Board term.
Professor Massimo Massi Benedetti, MD, Former IDF Europe Chair, is the President of the HUB for International health ReSearch-HIRS, and a member of national and international professional and non-professional diabetes associations. He was Chair of IDF Europe (1997- 2003), IDF Vice-President (2003-2009), Chairman of the IDF Science Task Force (2009-2012) and founder of the Members of the European Parliament Diabetes Working Group.
He is co-Chair of the ICHOM Standard Set of Person-centred outcomes for Diabetes Mellitus International Working Group. Prof. Massi Benedetti was member of the Faculty of Medicine and Chair of the Schools of Podology and of Nursing Sciences of the University of Perugia (I); Chair of the Umbria Regional Diabetes Reference Centre; Co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Diabetes Care Improvement and Director of Research and Education at Dasman Institute for Diabetes Research (Kuwait, 2007-2009).
His main areas of diabetes research are pathophysiology, new drugs, advanced systems for insulin delivery, complications, pregnancy, metabolic monitoring, epidemiology, diabetes registries and ethics.
Bastian Hauck is a professional sailor, author, entrepreneur – and type 1 diabetic. He is a member of the board of diabetesDE – German Diabetes-Aid, and founder of the #dedoc° Diabetes Online Community. The platform provides day-to-day, peer-to-peer motivational support for people with diabetes, with a strong focus on everyday life issues relevant to everyone living with a chronic condition like diabetes 24/7.
As a public speaker and diabetes advocate, Bastian promotes taking the patient’s voice seriously. The #dedoc° Diabetes Online Community translates the idea of traditional peer-to-peer support in chronic diseases such as diabetes to the online world, using social media and blogs to create strong, authentic, and self-sustaining patient communities.
Bastian holds a B.A. in Business and Economics (Private University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany, 2001), an M.A. in Middle East Studies (American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2004), and was a scholar with the Postgraduate Program in International Affairs (Federal Foreign Office, German Academic Scholarship Foundation, Robert Bosch Foundation, 2004-2005). He worked for the German Federal Foreign Office (Berlin, 2004), the OECD (Paris, 2005), the United Nations (New York, 2005), and the German Council on Foreign Relations (Berlin, 2005-2008), then quit and took a three-year sabbatical at sea to sail around the world. His book and movie continue to motivate sailors and people with diabetes to follow their dreams.
Bastian lives and works in Berlin and Schleswig, where he runs a small shipyard. He also works as a consultant on patient-centered communication, blogger relations, and mental health solutions. At diabetesDE -German Diabetes Aid, he focuses on awareness campaigns and patient engagement.
Professor Antonio Ceriello is a renowned diabetes researcher and consultant, with over 500 original papers and numerous book chapters to his credit. Professor Ceriello has served as a consultant for the National Institutes of Health in the United States, focusing on cardiovascular disease and type 1 diabetes. He has also held key positions within prominent organizations such as the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).
As an editor, Professor Ceriello has contributed significantly to the field, serving as an associate editor for “Diabetes Care” and “Diabetic Medicine,” and currently as the editor-in-chief of “Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.” He has received numerous awards for his contributions, including the prestigious “Hellmut Mehnert Award” at the IDF 2017 Meeting.
Professor Ceriello’s expertise extends to the development of guidelines and recommendations, as he has been involved in various committees responsible for shaping guidelines related to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and postmeal glucose management.