On 5 May 2026, the scientific meeting “Beyond Diabetes: Autoimmunity, Obesity, and Inflammatory Conditions in the Post-COVID-19 Era” was organised by our INITIALISE partner institution Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (UniNa) at Naples, Italy.

The meeting was scientifically organised by Prof. Mario Galgani, together with Dr. Sara Bruzzaniti and Dr. Erica Piemonte, and brought together researchers and clinicians to explore the complex links between metabolism, obesity, autoimmunity, inflammation and diabetes progression.

The programme opened with a lecture by Prof. Johnny Ludvigsson of Linköping University, also an INITIALISE partner institution, entitled “The Link between Metabolism, Obesity, and Autoimmunity.”

Across three scientific sessions, speakers discussed metabolic aspects of autoimmunity, the progression of autoimmune diseases and inflammatory and metabolic pathways in human disease.

Topics included the role of metabolic pressure in coeliac disease, the effects of glucose metabolism on immune cells in type 1 diabetes, potential coeliac disease as a model of disease progression, and the use of insulin neoepitopes as biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

The programme also addressed the role of the transcription factor Eomes in regulatory T-cell function and type 1 diabetes progression, therapeutic approaches targeting mineralocorticoid receptors, post-translational modifications of insulin, and the inflammatory pathways that may contribute to autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes from pregnancy onwards.

Contributors included researchers from Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Linköping University, Università San Raffaele di Roma, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and the Istituto degli Endotipi in Oncologia, Metabolismo e Immunologia “G. Salvatore” of the National Research Council of Italy.

The event provided a valuable platform for interdisciplinary scientific exchange and highlighted the importance of collaboration in understanding the complex interactions between metabolism and immune-mediated disease.

Congratulations to the organisers, speakers and participants who contributed to this successful meeting.