Research Assistant - Emme-Lotte Van der Linden
Emme-Lotte is one of our Research Interns who is currently studying her masters of Medicine at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. She joined the Rio Tinto Children's Diabetes Centre in Perth in April for her five month internship.
Tell us a little bit about you and why you're here?
As part of the medical degree, all students are required to do an internship to gain experience with research - which can be in any field of medicine and anywhere in the world, whatever we want! After spending a big part my younger years growing up in Perth, I chose to come back for my internship .
Why did you get into T1D research?
I got into contact with Prof Liz Davis about the option of doing my internship in Perth, and that got the ball rolling pretty quickly! Even though I hadn't really had much exposure to Diabetes at all when I started here - it's really amazed me how broad the diabetes world is and the size of the community surrounding it. There's so much research ongoing and definitely a lot to learn, which I find very exciting!
What are your current research projects you are working on?
While I'm here I'll be working on a smaller project as part of the CGM Dashboard study that is currently running. I'll be looking at comparing the demographics and glycaemic characteristics between the recruited participants and the wider clinic cohort, to see if I can identify any differences. Something really important to assess how generalisable the outcomes will be of the Dashboard study, so I'm very keen to see the outcomes and hopefully will be able to add some value to the project while I'm here!
What T1D research breakthroughs would you like to see in the next 10 years?
Sitting in on the clinics has made me realise a lot of the self-consciousness the kids and adolescents have surrounding diabetes especially in the context of sport and the challenges that come with that. Being a big fan of sport myself and having always been able to spend all my free time carelessly running around at trainings and games, it's really made me think of the impact it has on their freedom. I hope that in the next 10 years the HCL algorithms will improve even more to take away some of that stress from kids and parents - so there's more time for carefree fun! A big part of that being the development of even smaller pumps and sensors, so that wearing the devices is barely noticeable and doesn't hold them back at all.
What do you like to do outside of your work?
Outside of being at the Children's Diabetes Centre, I love being active (who doesn't with Perth weather!). I'm often found on the hockey pitch, doing pilates, going for runs or walks along the beach (at sunset!) and weekend morning coffee and markets with friends! And when the weather isn't great, I've been teaching myself to crochet - yet to reach great success though!