Dr Anna Boggiss is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Health Psychologist at The Kids Research Institute Australia, working within Dr Keely Bebbington's Mental Health and Wellbeing Theme in the Rio Tinto Children's Diabetes Centre; a Breakthrough T1D Centre of Excellence. Anna joined the team from Aotearoa New Zealand this year, drawn by the opportunity to work with a team making visible improvements in the lives of young people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their families.
What is your role and how long have you been working in diabetes research for?
I’m a Postdoctoral Researcher here at The Kids and I also work as a Health Psychologist in private practice one day a week, supporting people living with physical health conditions and their families.
I started my PhD back in 2018 which focused on supporting teenagers living with T1D be kinder to themselves when things with diabetes (or life) get hard - especially when we feel like we’re failing. After my training as a Health Psychologist, I was fortunate to work on two digital mental wellbeing tools in Aotearoa for people living with T1D - an app called LIFT for young adults and their support people and a self-compassion chatbot called COMPASS for teenagers.
Why did you get into T1D research?
The psychosocial aspects of many chronic health conditions often get pushed aside. With T1D, the impact on mental health for not only for young people but their families and communities are huge and there is often a lack of recognition and support. Living with an autoimmune condition myself and seeing many family members navigate similar conditions, drives me to fill these gaps and improve how we recognise and care for the mental health aspects of living with chronic health conditions, especially T1D.
What are your current research projects you are working on?
As a mental health team, we have a lot of work to do and a long wish list of research projects. We're currently making asking about mental health as routine as many other aspects of diabetes care for young people and their families, while looking for ways to improve and advocate for better recognition and support for mental health. I'm particularly passionate about understanding the lived experiences around eating concerns, body image, and neurodivergence for our youth living with T1D and their families. I'm fortunate to be involved in lots of projects developing support programs with youth and their families, as well as working with our amazing students.
What do you think will be the biggest T1D research breakthroughs in the next 10 years?
Beyond our hopes for preventing T1D or finding a cure, I'm excited about the potential for new and improved models of psychosocial care. We have a lot of room to improve and I hope to see improved care for mental health that involves asking about mental wellbeing often, with trauma-informed approaches and a range of support options from early prevention right through to intensive support when people need it - all considered as standard as any other aspect of diabetes care.
What do you like to do outside of your work?
Since moving to Perth, I've reconnected with swimming which I loved as a teenager. You'll find me at my favourite ocean swimming group and our after-swim ritual of coffee most mornings (especially now that it's getting warmer). My friends say that my "Perth-onality" is 90% swimming and 10% hunting down the best baked goods (Teeter Bakery on Claisebrook Road currently holds first place). When I’m not doing either of those things, I’m at home with my husband and our fluffy ragdoll cat Mia who made the move over to Perth with us to enjoy more time in the sun.