36 international experts from 15 countries convene to chart practical guidance for smokers with type 2 diabetes.
On 10–11 November 2025, Catania welcomed leading voices in diabetology, cardiovascular medicine, public health, and harm reduction for the Collegium Internationale Diabetologicum, a first-of-its-kind meeting applying the DELPHI method to smoking cessation and harm reduction in people with type 2 diabetes.
Experts listed here
The two-day program combined public symposia with closed-door methodology sessions to generate clear, implementable guidance for clinical practice and health policy. The Collegium was organized under the PNRR HEAL Italia research program in collaboration with CoEHAR, University of Catania.
Across eight focused workshops, spanning epidemiology, smoking as a risk factor for T2D, health impacts, cessation benefits, pharmacological and behavioral interventions, emerging alternatives, barriers to quitting, and early post-quit safety monitoring, participants aligned on key priorities and next steps for consensus development. The process culminated in the approval of 30 consensus statementswhich will be circulated to a global panel of about 2000 diabetologists for voting.
Sessions were chaired by Prof. Riccardo Polosa with Delphi facilitation by the AIM Education team; the venue was the Plaza Hotel, Catania. A public symposia complemented the expert program.
The Collegium’s working group will translate the deliberations into an international consensus document with graded recommendations and implementation guidance. Publication updates will be shared via CoEHAR channels.
<<This Collegium marks a practical step toward safer, evidence-based diabetes care for people who smoke, turning debate into implementable guidance.>> — Prof. Riccardo Polosa
ABOUT COLLEGIUM IN CATANIA
Yusuff Adebayo Adebisi
Dr. Adebisi is pharmacist, epidemiologist, and global health researcher. He holds pharmacy degree from University of Ibadan, MSc in Global Health Science and Epidemiology from Oxford, and is completing PhD at University of Glasgow. Director for Research at Global Health Focus and inaugural Kevin Molloy Fellow, he has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers spanning infectious and non-communicable disease epidemiology.
Andrew N Reynolds
Dr. Reynolds is Associate Professor and Associate Dean Research at University of Otago, New Zealand. He conducts randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses on lifestyle and environment change in non-communicable disease prevention, with special interest in carbohydrate health effects. He works as external consultant to WHO for evidence synthesis and authored 2023 European dietary management of diabetes guidelines for EASD.
Bader Almustafa
Dr. Almustafa is Senior Consultant of Family Medicine and Clinical Hypertensivist at Saudi Ministry of Health. He serves as Secretary-General of World Hypertension League and Head of Scientific Committee, Saudi Hypertension Management Society. He has developed multiple clinical guidelines, conducted hundreds of training courses, and published extensively in hypertension, preventive cardiology, and primary care.
Tadej Battelino
Professor Battelino is Head of Endocrinology at UCH-UMC Ljubljana and Professor at University of Ljubljana. He earned his MD (1990) and PhD (1996), with fellowships at Loyola University Chicago and INSERM Paris. With over 420 publications (h-index 75), he chairs IDF-Europe, co-organizes ATTD meetings, and has received numerous international awards including ISPAD Achievement Award.
Giulio Giacomo Cantone
Dr. Cantone is Tenure-Track Researcher in Social Statistics at Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro and Guest Editor of Advances in Statistical Analysis. His primary research interests are Multiverse Analysis and comparative evaluation methods of statistical models. He has published articles on mathematical modelling of latent constructs, focusing on measurement of vectorial distances and intercategoriality.
Roger Chen
Professor Chen is Senior Staff Endocrinologist at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and Conjoint Professor at UNSW. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Endocrinology Today and Senior Editor of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Case Reports. His research focuses on diabetes in vulnerable populations, including those with mental illness, older individuals, and transplant patients. He leads multiple national committees including National Diabetes Supply Scheme.
Muhammad Yazid Jalaludin
Professor Jalaludin is Malaysia’s leading pediatric endocrinology expert, serving as Professor at Universiti Malaya and Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Studies. With over 100 ISI publications including two in NEJM, he has shaped clinical practice across Asia Pacific. He has led major regional societies including APPES and MPA, recently becoming Fellow of both Academy of Science and Medicine Malaysia.
Jackie Kassouf Maalouf
Dr. Maalouf is Vice President at International Diabetes Federation and board member at NCD Alliance. She founded Dialeb, Lebanon’s leading diabetes organization, in 2010. A certified diabetes educator with 15 years leading awareness campaigns, she serves on multiple IDF committees and leads the sustainability committee. She has taught at American University of Beirut and participates in research as co-author and reviewer.
Giusy Rita Maria La Rosa
Dr. La Rosa is Research Fellow at University of Catania’s Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine. After earning her PhD in Biomedical Sciences (2021) and completing a master’s in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, she specializes in evidence synthesis methodologies. Her research focuses on tobacco harm reduction, new medical technologies, and research methodology. She is active member of JBI and Cochrane.
Bien J. Matawaran
Professor Matawaran is Chairman of Biochemistry Department and Chief of Endocrinology Section at University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Manila. Fellow of Philippine College of Physicians and PCEDM, he earned his MD from UST and completed endocrinology fellowship as chief fellow. Past President of Philippine Society of Endocrinology (2015-2016), he has contributed to national guidelines on diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular protection.
Anoop Misra
Dr. Misra is Chairman of Fortis-CDOC Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology, New Delhi. With over 40 years’ experience and advanced training from Royal Free Hospital London and UT Southwestern, he ranks among the top 2% of scientists globally and #1 in India for diabetes research. He has published over 400 papers (h-index 117) and is Editor-in-Chief of Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome.
Othmar Moser
Professor Moser is Professor of Exercise Physiology at University of Graz and Head of its Training and Diagnostic Centre. His research focuses on exercise as therapeutic intervention in metabolic diseases, particularly diabetes. With over 200 scientific publications, he authored two joint EASD-ISPAD position papers and is recognized for integrating evidence-based exercise therapy into diabetes treatment and prevention.
Pankaj Sharma
Professor Sharma is Consultant Neurologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Director of ICR2UL at Royal Holloway University London. He holds doctorates from Cambridge and London universities. An internationally recognized stroke genetics authority, he leads BRAINS, the world’s largest South Asian stroke DNA repository, and was awarded OBE for stroke research in South Asian populations.
Yoshifumi Saisho
Dr. Saisho is Director of Saisho Diabetes Clinic and Adjunct Professor at Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo. He earned his MD (1998) and PhD (2009) from Keio University and completed postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA. His research focuses on beta cell dysfunction in diabetes. He serves on multiple editorial boards and has authored over 100 publications.
Giorgio Sesti
Professor Sesti is Full Professor of Internal Medicine and Head of Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine at Sapienza University Rome and Head of Internal Medicine Division at Sant’Andrea University Hospital. His research focuses on pathophysiology and treatment of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. With 422 publications (h-index 74), he served as President of Italian Diabetes Society (2016-2018) and Italian Society of Internal Medicine (2021-2024).
Apostolos Tsapas
Professor Tsapas is Chair of Clinical Medicine Division and Director of Second Medical Department at Ippokratio Hospital Thessaloniki and founding Lead Investigator of Clinical Research Unit at Aristotle University. He earned MSc from Oxford and trained at Mayo Clinic. His research focuses on evidence-based practice and systematic reviews. He chairs EASD Guidelines Oversight Committee and contributed to ADA/EASD consensus statements.
Massimo Volpe
Professor Volpe is Emeritus Professor at Sapienza University Rome and President of Italian Society of Cardiovascular Prevention. Fellow of American Heart Association and European Society of Cardiology, his research focuses on neurohormonal control of circulation and cardiovascular abnormalities in hypertension and heart failure. He has authored over 1,000 publications (h-index 98, 100,000+ citations) and received 2021 Peter Van Zwieten Award.
Magdalena Walicka
Dr. Walicka is Deputy Head of Department at National Medical Institute, Warsaw, and Assistant Professor at Mossakowski Medical Research Institute. Specializing in internal medicine, endocrinology, and diabetology, her research focuses on type 2 diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis. She has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and actively participates in medical education and postgraduate physician training.
Rossella Cannarella
Dr. Cannarella is certified Clinical Andrologist by European Academy of Andrology and Endocrinology specialist with over 15 years’ training. She completed international PhD in Translational Biomedicine at University of Catania and research fellowships at Cleveland Clinic and UMass Medical School. Her research focuses on male infertility, testicular function, and sperm epigenetics. She has authored over 260 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 35).
Konstantinos Farsalinos
Dr. Farsalinos is physician, public health expert, and research associate at Universities of Patras and West Attica, Greece. Since 2011, he has conducted laboratory, clinical, and epidemiological research on smoking and tobacco harm reduction. With over 110 publications and 80 international conference presentations, he was declared Highly Cited Researcher 2019 by Web of Science. He is Vice President of SCOHRE.
Joanna Mitri
Dr. Mitri is Endocrinologist at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School affiliate, and Chief Medical Officer at Sequel. Former Director of Global Education and Consulting at Joslin, she has led partnerships with healthcare systems globally to build diabetes programs and centers of excellence. With over 40 peer-reviewed publications, her research focuses on vitamin D, lifestyle interventions, and diabetes management innovations.
Lee-Ling Lim
Professor Lim is Consultant Endocrinologist and Head of Research at Universiti Malaya, with honorary positions at CUHK and Baker Heart Institute. Her expertise spans cardiometabolic medicine and implementation science. She has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 46) and serves on ADA/EASD and WHO scientific workgroups. Stanford University recognizes her among the World’s Top 2% Scientists.
Vijay Viswanathan
Dr. Viswanathan is distinguished Diabetologist with over three decades’ practice in India. He serves as Chairman of MV Hospital for Diabetes and President of Prof. M. Viswanathan Diabetes Research Centre. Currently President of Research Society for Study of Diabetes in India and Honorary President of D-Foot International, he has trained over 2,000 physicians in diabetic foot amputation prevention and published over 600 articles.
Linong Ji
Professor Ji is Professor of Medicine at Peking University, Director of Peking University Diabetes Center, and Director of Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Peking University People’s Hospital. He has conducted extensive research on diabetes kidney disease, diabetic foot complications, and broader aspects of diabetes care. His work emphasizes both physical and psychological well-being of individuals with diabetes, contributing significantly to diabetes research internationally.
Abdul Basit
Professor Basit is Director of Indus Diabetes & Endocrinology Center at Indus Hospital & Health Network and Secretary General of Diabetic Association of Pakistan. Former Chair of IDF MENA Region and current President of Diabetes in Asia Study Group, he led Pakistan’s Second National Diabetes Survey and developed the RAPID screening tool. He has published over 250 research papers and established nationwide diabetes networks in Pakistan.
