Glasgow Caledonian University -PhD Research Project Opportunity
Please note that as this project is not funded by a University studentship, the successful candidate will be required to
source external funding for the research degree fees and living expenses while studying at the university.
Project Reference number
Institute/Research groups
2014SHLS037
Institute for Applied Health Research
Managing and Living with Long-Term Conditions: Diabetes and Biomedical Science
Research Discipline areas
Diabetes, wound healing, dermatology, skin research tissue bank, health
technology, Interactive and Trustworthy Technologies
Research Theme
Diabetes and Biomedical Science with Interactive and Trustworthy Technologies
Project Title
Using mobile phone app technology to improve diabetic wound treatments.
Research Project Area
Around 70% of people with diabetes develop neuropathy (damaged nerves) and
are often unaware they have suffered knocks or cuts. Wound healing in diabetes is
compromised, and failure to notice minor injuries can lead to infection and ulcer
development. 200,000 UK patients currently have chronic wounds - developing
new early interventions is vital.
The biomedical student will work with a technology student to develop a mobile
app to be run on a smart phone or tablet. The mobile app, which encourages users
to report small foot injuries and photograph them over time, will be delivered via
a Diabetes Clinic. Skin biopsies from these patients will be taken via our Research
Tissue Bank; and cell, molecular and wound healing assays used to examine skin
repair capacity. Data will be related to ulcer development to determine timely
interventions delivered via the app. We will carefully monitor the mobile
application use to examine effects on user behaviour in tracking wounds and
requesting suitable assistance from medical staff.
The students will benefit from collaboration with technologists and clinicians, and
be involved in inter-Institute initiatives with strong interests in diabetic foot
disease and health technology. The outputs will yield valuable data for parallel
translational studies.
Supervisory Team
Director of studies/1st Supervisor: Dr Catherine Wright (IAHR, SHLS)
http://www.gcu.ac.uk/hls/staff/drcatherineswright/
2nd Supervisor: Prof Lynne Baillie (ISETR, SEBE)
http://www.gcu.ac.uk/ebe/staff/professorlynnebaillie/
3rd Supervisor and SHLS clinical link: Prof Andrew Collier (Diabetes consultant, NHS
A&A).
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Staff Contact
Dr Catherine Wright
Diabetes and Biomedical Science, Institute for Applied Health Research,
Dept Life Sciences, School of Health and Life Sciences,
Glasgow Caledonian University,
Glasgow, G4 0BA, UK.
Tel: +44 141 331 8017
Email: catherine.wright@gcu.ac.uk
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