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16:00 – 16:30 Dr Afshan Malik “Identifying pathways of mitochondrial dysfunction that may contribute to obesity related co-morbidities as part of the PASGRAS project (Tackling Overweight and Obesity in the Youth)”.
Afshan Malik is a Reader in Diabetes and Mitochondrial Research in the Diabetes and Obesity section within the School of Cardiovascular Medicine and Metabolic Sciences at KCL. Her lab is focused on understanding the molecular pathways that contribute to common metabolic disease and developing methods to measure mitochondrial function in experimental models and humans. Projects currently underway in her lab include understanding the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetic complications, chronic kidney disease, Alzheimer’s disease and obesity related co-morbidities. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/malik-lab
The PAS GRAS project (DE-RISKING METABOLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DETERMINANTS OF OBESITY IN CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS) is a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action (RIA)-funded project comprising of 16 partners across the European Union and the United Kingdom. The overall mission of the project is to prevent and reverse obesity and its associated metabolic issues within four distinct age groups - pre-pubertal children (ages 3-9), adolescents (ages 10-18), young adults (ages 19-25), and adults (ages 25-55). The project will use integrated analyses from multiple cohorts, including ongoing intervention studies and large datasets (e.g UK Biobank), to develop a risk-assessment tool (RAT) which will provide users with a personalized and robust evaluation of their risk of obesity and related complications, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as strategies for reducing the risk. PAS GRAS is part of the European Cluster of Obesity Research Projects (OBEClust), a unique network of nine EU-funded projects focused on obesity prevention and treatment.
16:30 - 17:00 Dr Judith Parsons “Stigma and gestational diabetes”
Judith Parsons is a lecturer and researcher in the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King’s College London. Her work has focussed largely on developing and piloting diabetes support interventions with women and young people. She has worked in varied public health roles in the NHS, the Commonwealth Secretariat and for charities in Uganda. She moved to King’s College London as a researcher in 2012, where she completed a National Institute of Health Research doctoral fellowship developing an intervention to prevent type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes and has continued to work on diabetes-focussed research.
