Newly appointed professor looks forward to increased collaboration and more opportunities
Research Manager Ingrid Willaing of the Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen (SDCC) has been appointed professor of Psychosocial Health Promotion on Diabetes at the Department of Public Health Section for Health Services Research, University of Copenhagen (UoC)
Ingrid Willaing will have a few more jobs on her to-do list from now on. She has just been appointed to a part-time position as Professor of Psychosocial Health Promotion on Diabetes at the Department of Public Health Section for Health Services Research at UoC. At the same time, she will continue working as a Research Manager at SDCC, which has benefitted from Ingrid Willaing’s skills since 2010.
Can create more opportunities
Ingrid Willaing sees obvious opportunities in her dual role.
‘We already have a collaboration and joint projects ongoing. For example, we have joint PhD students, teaching and supervision. Now, we can increase that collaboration and create more opportunities. Both parties are doing interesting research, and we have some areas where we can complement each other and some where we can learn from each other’, says Ingrid Willaing, who leads around 45 staff at SDCC.
One of the joint projects originated when Denmark was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in March. The project is looking into the day-to-day changes and consequences brought about by the lockdown among people with Type 1 diabetes. On top of the new everyday reality, these people were also suddenly identified as a risk group in connection with the COVID-19 infection, and this also affected their everyday lives.
User involvement is a key aspect
The work of Ingrid Willaing and her colleagues in the Diabetes Management Health Promotion Research Group at SDCC includes researching and developing methods and concepts of psychosocial support and treatment of people with diabetes and their families. User involvement is a key aspect of this.
‘Involving users in research is vital. It makes interventions more accurate and makes it easier to change things, because we can get really close to the needs, wishes and problems that are truly important to users. As a bonus, when we bring users together, in workshops for example, we see that it means an incredible amount to them to be able to get together and talk to each other about living with diabetes. It can have a big, positive effect on their mental health’, says Ingrid Willaing.
A popular PI
At the Danish Diabetes Academy, the name Ingrid Willaing has often cropped up in connection with the awarding of funds to young researchers and visiting professors. Here, this experienced research manager is a popular Principal Investigator (PI).
British professor Jackie Sturt has been a visiting professor attached to Heath Promotion at SDCC since 2019. Here, she works with couples where one partner has diabetes. The research aims to improve the individual’s quality of life and strengthen the couple’s relationship. Doctor of Medical Science Khalida Ismail, who works – like Sturt – at Kings College London, is the newest visiting professor under DDA auspices: with Willaing, she will conduct research and build networks in Denmark in the field of Type 1 diabetes and eating disorders.
‘It’s a field that needs more attention. At SDCC, we have several researchers, and now a visiting professor, about to start researching diabetes and eating disorders. Eating disorders are unfortunately a growing problem, particularly in young people with diabetes, and it is a disease with marked mortality. That makes it an important – and complex – task to get a grip on, including in Denmark’, says Ingrid Willaing.
Photo: Lizette Kabré
By Pernille Fløjstrup Andersen, Communications Officer at DDA
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