Latest updates on The Hildas
Members of the DHL Network recently took part in the Birmingham BRC launch of the Women’s Metabolic Health theme on the 19th of July 2023. This theme is being led by Professor Shakila Thangaratinam with the involvement of many other researchers working on research into health conditions which mainly or exclusively affect women. This includes topics such as metabolic risks in pregnancy, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), adrenal disorders, headache and more.
This half day event involved research talks, networking and lunch, as well as a patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) session run by Dr Caroline Gillett and public contributor Sadia Haqnawaz, a member of The Hildas PPIE group. Caroline spoke about the importance of PPIE with examples at different research stages and she highlighted how The Hildas are supporting research into women’s health.
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Sadia gave a personal talk about her experiences with the group and how this has had an impact on her confidence and ability to use her voice to make a positive difference.
Several other members of The Hildas were also in attendance and the group (along with some visiting work experience students) were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the laboratories in the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (IMSR) where lots of women’s health research takes place. The group spent time with Dr Gaby da Silva Xavier who showed them her diabetes research lab and Dr Angela Taylor who gave a demonstration of the machine used to process biological samples, such as in the DAISy-PCOS research project.
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Over the 22-23 July, Caroline also went along to the Mela Festival in Birmingham to promote and encourage new sign ups to The Hildas. She was joined by Fatima Junaid, Saba Tariq and Anoushka Ramkumar, as well as public contributor Sunila. Despite the heavy rain, the group still managed to engage lots of women and families, most of South-Asian heritage. We hope to welcome some of them as new Hildas members very soon!
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