Could you tell us more about your background and career up to this point?
I’m an Adult Nurse with seven years of clinical experience across the Ghana Health Service and the UK’s NHS. Much of my work focused on long-term conditions, particularly diabetes, which shaped my transition into research.
My research career began in 2020 when I started my PhD at King’s College London, supported by the competitive Africa International Postgraduate Scholarship. Building on my master's work, I explored how informal caregivers can help prevent and manage diabetes-related foot ulcers in Ghana, with a strong emphasis on self-care and skill-building.
Alongside my doctoral studies, I worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant within the Global Health Perspectives module, teaching topics related to diabetes care and global health. I contributed to the Virtual International Elective programme, which received the Student Nursing Times Teaching Innovation of the Year Award in 2021.
After submitting my PhD thesis in 2024, I joined the NHS and worked as an adult nurse on a diabetes and endocrine ward, where I became the diabetes link nurse. In this role, I led a quality improvement initiative introducing the Ipswich Touch Test, a quick screening method used to check for nerve damage in the feet, into routine inpatient foot screening. I was nominated for the Nottingham University Hospitals Improvement Award (Best Improvement Leader category) for my work.
This combination of clinical practice, teaching and research continues to shape the questions I ask and solutions I develop today.
What inspired you to pursue research in diabetes care?
My inspiration comes directly from my clinical practice. After qualifying as a nurse, I worked in a non-communicable disease clinic where many patients were living with diabetes. I saw the effects of unmet needs first-hand, particularly preventable complications like foot ulcers, and clear gaps in patient education and service delivery. Those experiences naturally shaped my research direction.
I remember caring for a teenager with diabetes who was admitted with a very high blood glucose level. She was devastated and repeatedly blamed her mother for passing the disease on to her. Her mother, whom I personally knew, was overwhelmed with guilt because she felt responsible for her daughter's condition and the daily burden of insulin injections. What struck me most was that both of them genuinely believed that diabetes was a death sentence, and the mother had even sought help from faith healers in the hope of curing the condition.
On another occasion, I cared for a patient with an open diabetic foot ulcer who’d been dressing the wound with herbal remedies at home. By the time they attended the clinic, the wound had become severely infected.
These incidents reflected a wider pattern of misconceptions and limited understanding of diabetes within the community. Many people were unaware that diabetes is a manageable condition and that complications such as diabetic foot ulcers can often be prevented through regular screening, early detection, appropriate self-care and patient education.
Experiences like these reinforced my belief in the need for research and interventions that improve diabetes awareness, empower patients with accurate knowledge and reduce preventable complications. I became especially interested in how care could extend beyond the clinic, particularly through family support and self-management. Research gave me a pathway to systematically address those gaps and develop practical, evidence-based solutions.
What is your current project focusing on, and what difference do you hope it will make for diabetes care?
My current work focuses on translating my insights from low-resource settings in Ghana to the UK context. I’m adapting and evaluating a Family-based Diabetic Foot Care (FAM-FootCare) intervention for use within NHS primary care. FAM-FootCare aims to support patients and their informal support persons to detect early signs of foot complications and take appropriate action.
From our interviews with patients and caregivers, we learned that the loss of protective sensation in the feet caused by diabetic nerve damage often means that people don’t notice minor injuries until they have developed into serious wounds. Because diabetes slows wound healing, these wounds can become difficult and expensive to treat. Patients spoke about the pain, fear and limitations they experienced while caregivers described the emotional and physical burden of supporting their loved ones.
Hearing these experiences reinforced for us that preventing foot complications is not just a clinical priority, it’s essential for preserving people's quality of life and reducing the burden on families.
While it may initially lead to more patients booking appointments in primary care, the longer-term goal of FAM-FootCare is to prevent serious and more costly complications such as foot ulcers and amputations.
By promoting early detection, supported self-management and timely referral, the programme has the potential to improve quality of life for patients while reducing the burden on the NHS. It also aligns strongly with the NHS strategic shift toward prevention and community-based care.
How are you doing your research and what makes it unique?
My research is grounded in real clinical problems and focused on delivering real benefits for both patients and health services.
I draw on mixed methods, combining insights from interviews with patients and carers with intervention development and feasibility testing. This enables me to go beyond observation and to actively equip patients and caregivers with practical skills and confidence to manage diabetes at home.
I place a strong emphasis on co-design, hands-on learning and self-efficacy. This ensures that interventions are not only evidence-based but also practical and scalable. I’m also challenging the traditional assumptions about where in the world innovation comes from by adapting interventions developed in Ghana and the Global South to the UK setting.
How has your clinical experience shaped the way you approach research?
My clinical background enables me to identify problems that matter to patients and carers, and design interventions that are feasible in real-world settings.
Just before leaving my NHS clinical role, I remember speaking with a patient during their discharge planning who'd just declined an invitation to a party because social gatherings often led them to lose control of their blood glucose levels. They explained that friends would encourage them to eat and drink things that made it difficult to manage their diabetes, even when they tried to make healthier choices. The patient was also considering moving out of their sister's home because the constant availability of unhealthy foods made it difficult to stay on track with their diabetes management.
That conversation changed the way I think about diabetes care. I realised that successful self-management depends not only on knowledge and motivation, but also on the influence of family, friends and the wider social environment. It reinforced my belief that research and interventions should engage those around the patient, not just the individual.
Are there any achievements or moments in your career you’re particularly proud of?
I’m proudest of my work that has had an impact on policy and practice. For example, I was part of the UKRI-funded REaCH initiative, which trained health workers to deliver remote consulting in primary healthcare in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I helped bring together over 100 researchers and policymakers across Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Sierra Leone to translate research findings into their contexts. This work helped to bring phone and video appointments into their national health systems, improving access to healthcare, particularly for underserved populations.
What's your favourite thing about working at King’s?
What I value most about King’s is its strong sense of community and support. Colleagues are genuinely invested in each other’s development and there is a collaborative culture that encourages you to grow and take on new opportunities. As an early-career researcher, you are never alone in navigating challenges and there is always support available.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I spend most of my time with my family, which helps me maintain balance and stay grounded.