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Call for papers - Diabetes and infectious disease

Guest Editors

Fawaz Alzaid, PhD, HDR, Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait
Jean Joel Bigna, MD, MPH, MSc, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon
Yuichi Nishioka, MD, PhD, Nara Medical University, Japan
Arnaud Zaldumbide, PhD, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 29 December 2025 


BMC Medicine is calling for submissions to our new Collection exploring the intricate relationship between diabetes and infectious diseases. This Collection will focus on the impact of glycemic control, immune responses, and lifestyle factors on disease outcomes. The intersection of diabetes and infectious diseases presents a critical area of research, as individuals with diabetes are often at increased risk for severe infections and adverse outcomes. This Collection aims to explore the complexity that governs the severity of infectious diseases in people living with diabetes. Understanding these dynamics is essential for developing effective prevention and management strategies tailored to this vulnerable population. 


New Content ItemThis Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being. 

Meet the Guest Editors

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Fawaz Alzaid, PhD, HDR, Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait

Dr Alzaid is an investigator in diabetes research focused on metabolism, inflammation, and macrophage biology. He was awarded his PhD from King’s College London, UK and carried out postdoctoral work at the University of Westminster, UK and at the Cordeliers Research Centre, France. Dr Alzaid currently leads a group in the IMMEDIAB (Immunity and Metabolism of Diabetes) team at Institut Necker Enfants Malades, INSERM, France and a lab at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait. He brings experience in translational research on the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis and progression of diabetes and the development of complications and comorbidities to the Collection.

Jean Joel Bigna, MD, MPH, MSc, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon

Dr Bigna is a medical doctor and researcher from Cameroon. He specializes in epidemiology, clinical trials, and systematic reviews, focusing on the interplay between infectious and non-communicable diseases. He has authored over a hundred papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals. Dr Bigna has extensive experience as a clinical physician, academic researcher, and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry, contributing to research and development in public health and disease prevention. His research in public health aims to improve healthcare systems and address health disparities, especially in low-resource settings.

Yuichi Nishioka, MD, PhD, Nara Medical University, Japan

Dr Nishioka is a leading researcher in Japan specializing in the use of administrative claims databases. With expertise in epidemiology, statistics, and data analysis, he has developed algorithms to assess whether a patient has diabetes from claims data. He also works as a diabetes specialist, providing patient care. He contributed to an international diabetes research project, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in 2024. His research has led to significant advancements in the field, and he has received recognition through awards, invited lectures, and intellectual property achievements.

Arnaud Zaldumbide, PhD, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands

Dr Zaldumbide is an Associate Professor at the Chemical and Cellular Immunology Department of the Leiden University Medical Center. His group is interested in exploring the interplay between the immune system and the pancreatic beta cells in the immunopathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. His research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying the generation of neo-epitopes (autoantigens) in pro-inflammatory and metabolic stress conditions, with a particular attention on the processes of transcription, translation, and enzyme mediated-post-translational modifications.

About the Collection

BMC Medicine is calling for submissions to our new Collection exploring the intricate relationship between diabetes and infectious diseases. This Collection will focus on the impact of glycemic control, immune responses, and lifestyle factors on disease outcomes. The intersection of diabetes and infectious diseases presents a critical area of research, as individuals with diabetes are often at increased risk for severe infections and adverse outcomes. This Collection aims to explore the complexity that governs the severity of infectious diseases in people living with diabetes. Understanding these dynamics is essential for developing effective prevention and management strategies tailored to this vulnerable population. 

Advancing our collective understanding of the intersection of diabetes and infectious diseases is essential for improving patient outcomes and public health strategies. Recent advances have underscored the role of glycemic control in modulating immune responses, revealing that better management of blood glucose levels can improve outcomes in infectious disease scenarios. Furthermore, emerging studies are unraveling the mechanisms linking diabetes to increased susceptibility to infections, paving the way for targeted interventions and preventive measures. Similarly, this Collection also welcomes work on how infectious diseases impact glycemic homeostasis, from influencing glycemia, insulin sensitivity and secretory capacity, to interacting with an immune system primed on a diabetes background. 

Continued research in this area holds the potential for significant breakthroughs, including the development of novel therapeutic approaches that enhance immune function in people living with diabetes, to personalizing treatment strategies to achieve the best outcomes for this group. Furthermore, as we deepen our understanding of the lifestyle and environmental factors influencing infectious disease outcomes, we may identify new strategies for prevention and management that can be implemented in diverse settings, ultimately reducing the burden of both diabetes and infectious diseases. This Collection aims to advance knowledge and improve patient outcomes related to the interplay of diabetes and infectious diseases. We welcome original research, reviews, and meta-analyses that contribute to a deeper understanding of this critical area of study. 

Topics of interest include but are not limited to: 

-Impact of glycemic control on infectious disease outcomes 

-Mechanistic insights into immune dysregulation in diabetes 

-Underlying mechanisms linking diabetes and infection severity 

-Immunometabolic crosstalk in diabetes and in infection 

-Metabolic responses to diverse infectious agents: bacteria, virus, fungus or helminth 

-How infections influence glycemic homeostasis and insulin dynamics

-Strategies for infectious disease prevention in high-risk diabetic populations 

-Proof-of-principle for personalized medicine targeting infections for the patient with diabetes 

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists. 

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being. 

Image credit: © Satjawat / stock.adobe.com

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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BMC Medicine encourages submissions of front matter articles and original research, including clinical trials (phase I-III, randomized-controlled, either positive or negative trials), epidemiological studies (retrospective or prospective), systematic reviews and meta-analyses, -omics, medical imaging, genomics studies and translational research. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines.

Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection; please select "Diabetes and infectious disease" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.