Dr Gillian Hood

Dr Gillian (Gill) Hood RGN, qualified as a nurse at the Royal London Hospital in 1984, and immediately took up post on a diabetes ward. Recognising the high prevalence of diabetes in East London, and having been personally affected by diabetes in her family, Gill became interested in research being undertaken to improve the lives of people with diabetes.

In 1998 Gill gained a First in a BSc (Hons) in Applied Social Sciences and then conducted a thesis on fasting during Ramadan for Bangladeshi people with diabetes for her MSc. Gill then received a bursary from Roehampton University to study the experience of Older Adults living with diabetes and was awarded a PhD in 2008.

Gill has run a patient research panel for 12 years. She chairs the Novo Nordisk Nursing and Allied Health Professionals Diabetes Research Group and sits on the abstract committee of the Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND). She is Chief Investigator of the Diabetes Essentials Care Survey in primary care involving 20,000 participants. Recently she has been working with Theatre Companies to raise awareness about diabetes and research using social media. She currently manages a diabetes research group at Queen Mary, University of London.