Call for papers - Monitoring, preventing, and managing type 2 diabetes

Michelle Hadjiconstantinou, PhD, University of Leicester, UK

Dr Michelle Hadjiconstantinou is the Lead Chartered Psychologist for the Leicester Diabetes Centre, and a highly-regarded Behavioural Scientist at the University of Leicester. She is a faculty member at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and is the Academic Lead of the complex intervention team at the Leicester Diabetes Centre. After obtaining her PhD in 2018, which focused on the development of a digital-based programme to improve wellbeing in type 2 diabetes, she gained her status as a Chartered Psychologist by the British Psychological Society, a professional status which recognises a high standard of psychological knowledge and expertise in health research and practice. Dr Hadjiconstantinou applies her academic expertise in applied and clinical research, collaborating with both methodologists and clinical academics nationally and internationally. She holds 15 years of research experience in health, particularly long-term conditions prevention and lifestyle interventions, and holds a well-established portfolio in qualitative research methods. Her research contributes to the ongoing improvement of the emotional wellbeing and quality of life of people living with type 2 diabetes and other long-term conditions, creating real-world impact to self-care and self-management. Her main interests are in psychosocial aspects of long-term conditions, behaviour change, intervention development and process evaluation. In addition to her research capacity, she also co-leads the Self-Management module for the University of Leicester MSc Diabetes course, and supervises MSc and PhD students.

Mirthe Muilwijk, PhD, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Netherlands

Dr Mirthe Muilwijk is a registered senior epidemiologist, currently serving as Assistant Professor at Amsterdam UMC and postdoctoral researcher in cardiovascular epidemiology at UMC Utrecht. Her research integrates biological, social, and environmental determinants to understand sociodemographic disparities in non-communicable diseases in general and type 2 diabetes specifically. During her PhD within the EuroDHYAN project, Dr Muilwijk explored ethnic differences in T2D using HELIUS data, complemented by a research visit to the University of Glasgow where she applied UK Biobank data to study diabetes-related morbidity and mortality. She obtained a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Amsterdam Public Health research institute, focusing on how social and physical environments shape diabetes outcomes across ethnic groups. Her interdisciplinary approach combines quantitative epidemiology, metabolomics, and large-scale datasets, including geographic and registry data, to bridge individual and structural perspectives on disease risk. Grounded in ecosyndemics and systems science, her current work examines how disadvantaged environments and multimorbidity interact to exacerbate health inequities. Notably, she has identified obesity hotspots among low socioeconomic populations, informing targeted prevention strategies in collaboration with urban planners and municipalities. Her findings also guide clinical care by identifying high-risk groups for tailored treatment. Through her work, Dr Muilwijk aims to translate data-driven insights into actionable strategies that reduce diabetes disparities and advance health equity.
 

Boon Peng Ng, PhD, University of Central Florida, USA

Dr Boon Peng Ng is a health economist and health outcomes researcher at UCF’s College of Nursing, College of Medicine, and a member of the UCF Disability, Aging and Technology Faculty Research Cluster. Prior to his appointment at UCF, he was a Steven M. Teutsch Prevention Effectiveness fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he leveraged his knowledge of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data to assess health services usage, economic burden of diseases, and the health and economic impact of health policies and interventions on various populations. His area of research is in chronic disease, particularly diabetes, where he continues to serve as a guest researcher with the CDC Division of Diabetes.