Maggie Shepherd RGN, PhD

Professor Shepherd trained as a Registered General Nurse in London and worked as a Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN) for eight years prior to moving to Exeter in Devon in 1995 to join the diabetes genetics research team. She gained a Ph.D. in Medical Science in Exeter focussing on attitudes to genetic testing in diabetes in 2000. She has qualifications in Medical Education and Genetic Counselling. She delivered the Janet Kinson award lecture at DUK in 2003, is an Editorial Board member of the European Diabetes Nursing Journal, and has over >100 publications (>30 first author). Her interests include the impact of genetic testing in diabetes, particularly the change from long term insulin to tablet treatment, misdiagnosis, patient experience, translating research findings into clinical care, and increasing awareness and knowledge of monogenic diabetes amongst health care professionals.

Her role within the department includes research, educational and clinical roles. Her research currently involves identifying patients with monogenic diabetes who have been misdiagnosed as having Type 1 or type 2 diabetes and coordinating the transfer of these patients to the most appropriate treatment. She leads the national Genetic Diabetes Nurse project which has been running since 2002 and trains DSNs about the genetics of diabetes so they can raise awareness of monogenic diabetes, identify and support families across the UK. She is also the educational lead for our Clinical Research Facility. She runs monthly monogenic clinics with Professor Andrew Hattersley and is happy to guide clinicians and patients about the management of their monogenic diabetes. She has also been appointed as one of the national NIHR70@70 Senior Nurse Research Leaders and within that role aims to increase the profile and delivery of high-quality research amongst nurses and midwives and is developing strategies to bridge the gap between clinical care and research