We are delighted to announce that Professor Louise Goff has joined the NIHR Leicester BRC.
Louise is an academic dietitian specialising in the role of diet and lifestyle in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes, with a particular interest in tackling health inequalities among minority ethnic groups.
She has worked extensively with UK African and Caribbean communities spanning a broad range of research, from understanding ethnic differences in the biological mechanisms by which diabetes develops in African and Caribbean groups, through to improving cultural competency of healthcare professionals.
Louise is co-editor of the ‘Advanced Nutrition and Dietetics in Diabetes’ textbook, and sits on the Diabetes UK Nutrition Committee, having led on the development of evidence-based guidelines for the nutritional management of diabetes in ethnic minority groups.
She is currently Chief Investigator for two large projects. The first is a project funded by the NIHR in which she is leading a trial evaluation of a culturally-tailored diabetes self-management programme for African and Caribbean adults living with type 2 diabetes.
The second, a Diabetes UK-funded project, is investigating ethnic distinctions in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes in people of African heritage; this work uses highly sophisticated methods to assess beta-cell function, tissue-specific sites of insulin resistance and magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy to investigate ectopic fat deposition.
Louise said: “I’m really excited to come to Leicester, which has a strong track record on both diabetes research and education programmes and on reducing health inequalities through research more generally.
“The Lifestyle theme at NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre is world-leading in its focus on developing and evaluating research interventions for diabetes prevention and management, and for implementing these into clinical practice at pace. I’m excited to bring my nutrition expertise and focus on ethnic minority health to the team, enabling Leicester BRC to expand its portfolio of health behaviour interventions.”
Louise will work within the Lifestyle theme of the NIHR Leicester BRC.