Congratulations to prize-winners and recent MSc in THS graduates Nadia Swann (left) and Lisa Thom (right) who’ve won this year’s awards for ‘Outstanding MSc Dissertation in Translational Health Sciences’.
On receiving news of her award Nadia commented:
'I’m delighted to win this prize. My dissertation explored how knowledge about wearable technologies among people with type 1 diabetes is framed and theorised, using a hermeneutic review with meta-narrative methods. Wearable technologies include blood glucose sensors, insulin pumps and algorithmic ‘closed-loop’ systems (sometimes called an ‘artificial pancreas’). I reviewed articles in biomedical, sociological, health psychology and design engineering research traditions. My review was aimed at ‘making sense’ of different views of knowledge and showed how knowledge of people living with type 1 diabetes encompasses clinical, technological, experiential, and expert knowledges. Most research is still undertaken in biomedically-framed studies which do not capture these complexities of knowing. Understanding this better may help clinical and psychosocial approaches to care and technology design.
I hope winning that this prize and publishing my dissertation will help to expand understanding of living with type 1 diabetes wearable technologies, as I go on to start my DPhil in Translational Health Sciences, looking at closed-loop systems.'
On hearing of her award Lisa responded:
'I’m grateful for the opportunity to have completed the MSc in Translational Health Sciences and want to thank the module leaders and course leads, in particular Anne Ferrey in her role as my dissertation supervisor, for their support and guidance. Winning this prize for my dissertation is a real honour and I hope that it encourages more researchers to involve patients and their perspectives in their work.
My dissertation looked at research on how patients are involved in decisions about their treatment for venous thromboembolism (VTE), a condition where blood clots form in the veins. I wanted to find out whether shared decision-making, where doctors and patients collaborate to choose the best treatment, could be applied in this context. Drawing from my own experiences as a VTE patient, I used patient perspectives and existing research to identify gaps between SDM policy and practice and explore ways to improve the patient experience.'
Our congratulations to them both! Find out more about the Master’s in Translational Health Sciences.