ACADI: Advancing Diabetes Care with National and Global Collaboration

Led by Professor Elif Ekinci, ACADI includes Academic Partners, Advocacy Groups, Health Services and Industry Partners and consumer representatives, with a shared vision to accelerate research translation and implement real-world innovations that benefit people with diabetes at each stage - from diagnosis through to managing its devastating complications.

ACADI’s purpose is to deliver and implement novel interventions for timely diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications. Through its integrated research and development platform, national training program, and commercialisation support, ACADI is dedicated to translating research breakthroughs into practical solutions that improve quality of life and life expectancy for all Australians living with diabetes – prioritising communities traditionally underserved, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Read more about other partnerships here.

ACADI delivers tangible impact through an integrated ecosystem, providing national leadership and expertise at the intersection of diabetes research, innovation, and implementation:

• Innovation and commercialisation: Advancing therapeutics, devices, digital health, and AI through robust pipelines and commercialisation pathways.
• Clinical trials: Strengthening workforce capacity, sector leadership, and infrastructure for national diabetes clinical trials.
• Lived experience and co-design: Partnering with people living with diabetes to co-develop solutions that are practical, culturally safe, and impactful.
• Evaluation of new models of care: Rigorous testing and refinement of new care models to improve access and outcomes.
• National coordination for state-level health services implementation: Facilitating state and territory adoption of evidence-based innovations.

ACADI Objectives

1. Building the diabetes workforce of the future: Training and retaining the next generation of researchers, clinicians, innovators and allied health professionals to drive discovery and implementation.
2. Addressing issues of health inequities: Recognising health inequities and prioritising equitable inclusion, culturally safe care, and co-designed solutions to ensure access for regional, rural, Indigenous, and other underrepresented communities.
3. Improving access to evidence-based care: Embedding research outcomes into practice ensuring every Australian has access to best-in-class, evidence-based services and care.
4. Supporting diabetes clinical trials and innovations: Growing Australia’s capacity to develop, test, and implement diabetes innovations through a strengthened clinical trials network, fostering collaboration between researchers, consumers, and industry.\

ACADI Impact

• Australia’s first Virtual Emergency Department Diabetes Service: A world-first co-designed model providing urgent, remote access to specialist diabetes care, reducing hospital admissions and improving outcomes.
• Established national connected clinical trial infrastructure and Australia’s first Diabetes Clinical Trials Network: Linking 400+ rural, remote, regional and at-risk participants to research, with a strong commitment to Indigenous engagement and consumer involvement in trial design and delivery.
• Pipeline of 18 research projects: Spanning prevention, diagnosis, management, models of care, and new therapies, with 2 innovations in market and seeking market expansion, and others progressing through translation and implementation pathways.
• National-first diabetes dedicated training program: Building capability across research, clinical care, commercialisation, and engaging community partners in research.

Find out more about ACADI here.