In 2019, I made a significant decision: to pivot my entire research portfolio to Type 1 Diabetes technology. This wasn’t a small adjustment—it was a complete transformation of research direction, built on decades of experience in user modelling, adaptive systems, and digital phenotyping.

Why Diabetes?

Throughout my career, I’ve focused on understanding extreme users in extreme environments. From profound blindness to Parkinson’s disease, my work has always centred on creating adaptive systems that respond to users’ unique needs and contexts.

Type 1 Diabetes represents perhaps the ultimate challenge in this domain: a condition where real-time physiological data, behaviour, context, and prediction must come together to support life-critical decision-making multiple times every day.

Building the Foundation

The pivot required more than just research redirection. I needed to:

Create a Multidisciplinary Team

Working across the NHS, Diabetes UK, FBMH, and the Manchester Diabetes Institute, we’ve built a team that combines computer science, clinical expertise, and lived experience.

Train the Next Generation

I’ve supervised 10 PhD researchers specifically focused on diabetes technology, each bringing unique perspectives to different aspects of the challenge.

Engage Citizen Scientists

Perhaps most importantly, we’ve created a “Brains Trust” of 80 citizen scientists with Type 1 Diabetes. They don’t just participate in our research—they help shape it, ensuring we’re addressing real needs rather than hypothetical ones.

From Research to Practice

Research that stays in the lab helps no one. That’s why we created Melontech, a start-up now in stage 3 with the UoM Innovation Factory. This provides a direct pipeline from research findings to practical tools that people with diabetes can actually use.

The Results So Far

The transformation has been remarkable:

  • 11 journal papers in high-impact diabetes and hypoglycaemia venues
  • Multiple translation grants from Wellcome Trust, MRC, and Pankhurst (totalling over £200k)
  • Clinical partnerships enabling real-world testing and validation
  • Technology in use through our HYPO-CHEAT system, demonstrating real reductions in hypoglycaemia

What’s Next?

We’re just getting started. Current work includes:

  • An EPSRC Healthcare Grant under review (~£850k)
  • Expanding the Diabetes and Hypoglycaemia Technology Network
  • Co-leading the Ageing Theme in the University’s Healthier Futures initiative
  • Developing next-generation prediction algorithms that combine nutrition, behaviour, and continuous glucose monitoring

The Bigger Picture

This pivot demonstrates something important about research: the methodologies we develop for one challenge often unlock solutions for others. My work on web accessibility taught me about adaptation and personalisation. Research on Parkinson’s disease revealed patterns in digital phenotyping. All of this comes together in diabetes technology.

The bugs—the challenges, the unexpected findings, the “failures”—really do become features when we’re willing to learn from them and adapt.

If you’re interested in collaborating on diabetes technology research, or if you’re a person with Type 1 Diabetes interested in joining our Brains Trust, please get in touch.