Prof Jane Speight

Jane has a PhD in health psychology from Royal Holloway University of London. She is a chartered psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Jane's leadership roles include being the Lead for the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) national development program ‘mental health and diabetes’ and lead author of the Diabetes Australia position statement ‘A new language for diabetes’.

Jane's research translation achievements include being a founding member of the DAFNE (‘dose adjustment for normal eating’) education program, which has trained more than 30,000 adults with type 1 diabetes in the UK since 2001, more than 2000 in Australia/New Zealand since 2005, and is also available in Kuwait and Singapore.

Jane is author of 60+ peer-reviewed journal publications and book chapters, more than 100 conference presentations. Over the past decade, she has been an investigator on research attracting funds of $11.3million, with over $8.2million achieved since 2010.

Jane has a well-established portfolio of research in behavioural, psychological and social aspects of diabetes and is widely regarded as one of the leading psychologists specialising in diabetes in the UK and Australia. Her principle research interests focus broadly on improving the quality of life of people with diabetes and optimising their self-care. Her research interests include:

- evaluating and enhancing provision of structured diabetes education

- restoring impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia and preventing recurrent severe hypoglycaemia

- expectations, experiences and optimisation of new diabetes treatments and technologies

- the experience of social stigma related to diabetes

- monitoring and reducing diabetes-related distress

- investigating the needs of specific populations, e.g. young adults with type 2 diabetes, adolescents with type 1 diabetes, women with diabetes planning and during pregnancy.

Jane is widely regarded as an authority on the development, use and interpretation of measures of psychological processes and outcomes in diabetes, also known as patient-reported outcomes (PROs). She also has interests in other long-term conditions, such as restless legs syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome and hereditary angioedema.
 

Jane is a member of the following professional organisations:

American Diabetes Association (ADA)

Australian Diabetes Society (ADS)

British Psychological Society (BPS); Associate Fellow since 2004

BPS Division of Health Psychology (DHP)

Diabetes UK

International Diabetes Federation

PsychoSocial Aspects of Diabetes (PSAD) Study Group of European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD); Honorary Treasurer 2001-2004

Royal Society of Medicine; Fellow since 2006

Recent peer-reviewed conference presentations include:

Hendrieckx C, Speight J, Poole LA, Sharifi A, Loh M, Horsburgh JC, Trawley S, Jenkins AJ, Kumareswaran K, MacIsaac RJ, Ward GM, Colman PG, Bach LA, Kyoong A, Kurtz N, Grosman B, Roy A, O’Neal DN (2015) “It is definitely a game changer”: closed loop technology in the home experienced by adults with type 1 diabetes. American Diabetes Association 75th Scientific Sessions, Boston, 5-9 June. (poster)

Little S, Leelarathna L, Walkinshaw E, Tan HK, Chapple O, Solomon A, Chadwick T, Brennand C, Marshall S, Speight J, Flanagan D, Heller S, Evans M, Kerr D, Shaw JAM (2015) Restoration of hypoglycemia awareness and prevention of recurrent severe hypoglycemia in long-standing type 1 diabetes: sustained benefit and improved overall glycemic control over 2 years following recruitment into the HypoCOMPaSS multicenter RCT. American Diabetes Association 75th Scientific Sessions, Boston, 5-9 June.

Sharifi A, De Bock M, Loh M, Horsburgh J, Jenkins A, Kumareswaran K, Speight J, Hendrieckx C, MacIsaac R, Ward G, Colman P, Bach L, Kyoong A, Kurtz N, Grosman B, Roy A, Jones T, O’Neal D (2015) Impact of overnight home closed-loop (CL) insulin delivery on glycaemia and counter-regulatory hormones in people with type 1 diabetes compared to sensor augmented pump therapy (SAP) with low glucose suspend (LGS). American Diabetes Association 75th Scientific Sessions, Boston, 5-9 June.

Ventura AD, Newton-John T, Mosely K, Browne JL, Speight J (2015) Social support and social control in type 2 diabetes: an interview study. American Diabetes Association 75th Scientific Sessions, Boston, 5-9 June.

Speight J, Singh H, Little SA, Flanagan D, Kerr D, Evans ML, Heller SR, Shaw JAM (2015) Associations with hyperglycaemia avoidance among adults with long-standing type 1 diabetes and impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia: baseline characteristics from the HypoCOMPaSS Study. Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference, London, 11-13 March.

Tan HK, Little SA, Leelarathna L, Walkinshaw E, Lubina-Solomon A, Kerr D, Heller S, Evans ML, Shaw JAM, Flanagan D, Speight J (2015) Hypoglycaemia avoidance training improves glucose variability in Type 1 diabetes (HypoCOMPaSS Study). Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference, London, 11-13 March.

Jane is a peer-reviewer for numerous journals including: Australian Journal of Primary Care, British Journal of Health Psychology, BMJ, BMJ Open, Diabetes Care, Diabetic Medicine, Health & Quality of Life Outcomes (HQLO), Journal of Diabetes Investigation, The Patient, Pediatric Diabetes, PharmacoEconomics, Psychology Health and Medicine, Quality of Life Research, Value in Health

Jane is a peer-reviewer of grant applications for various funding bodies, including: UK Dept of Health NCC RCD, Diabetes Australia Research Trust (DART), Diabetes UK, Health Research Board (Ireland), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) UK, National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

Jane is a member of the Accu-Chek Advisory Board, Roche Diagnostics Australia (since January 2011). She is a member of the Specialist Knowledge List of British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Health Psychology (DHP) for diabetes, hereditary angioedema (HAE), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and restless legs syndrome (RLS), providing expertise in response to calls for consultation by organisation such as NICE and the DoH (2007 onwards).

Jane is Foundation Director of The Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes, a partnership for better health between Diabetes Victoria and Deakin University.

She is a member of Deakin University's Strategic Research Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development.

2014 Council of Academic Public Health Institutions of Australia – Inaugural Team Award for Excellence and Innovation in Public Health Research

2014 Finalist in the Victorian Public Healthcare Awards, Excellence in Supporting Self-Managed Healthcare, Finalist for ‘OzDAFNE: a structured self-management program improving biomedical and psychological outcomes for adults with type 1 diabetes’

2013 Deakin University Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Partnerships

2012 First prize for clinical research at the Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS) conference: Dixon J, Browne JL, Reddy P, Pouwer F, Speight J (2012) Severely obese people with type 2 diabetes experience impaired emotional well-being and socioeconomic disadvantage: Results from Diabetes MILES: Australia.

2001 & 2002 Invited to present research at the SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) for Britain: Reception for Younger Scientists held at the Palace of Westminster, London
 

Jane is an investigator on several research projects and programs, including national and international studies:

- DESMOND Self Monitoring Study: evaluating selfmonitoring
of blood glucose embedded in structured education for type 2 diabetes (Funding: Diabetes UK grant)

- Diabetes MILES (Management and Impact for Longterm Empowerment and Success) Study, and Diabetes MILES Youth Study (Funding: National Diabetes Services Scheme; NDSS)

- Diabetes MILES-2 (Sanofi)

- Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating (DAFNE) research program, developing and evaluating structured type 1 diabetes education for adults; and OzDAFNE program (Funding:Diabetes UK and NIHR)

- Hypo COMPaSS trial: an RCT using optimized technology to prevent recurrent severe hypoglycaemia (Funding: Diabetes UK)

- Metabolic control with overnight 'closed loop' in the ambulatory setting in people with type 1 diabetes (Funding: JDRF International)

- National Development Program for Mental Health and Diabetes (Funding: NDSS)

- Prevention of Severe Hypoglycaemia: an online training program for people with type 1 diabetes (Funding: The Ian Potter Foundation)    

- Social stigma in diabetes (Funding: Diabetes Australia Research Program)

- Stepping Up cluster-randomised controlled trial of an intervention to support primary care professionals to conduct timely and evidence-based review of the management of type 2 diabetes (Funding: NHMRC project grant)

- TEAM T1: national rollout and evaluation of ‘teens empowered to actively manage type 1 diabetes’ (Funding: DOHA)

- TLC Diabetes: implementation trial of ‘telephone linked care’ for adults with type 2 diabetes (Funding: NHMRC partnership grant)

- UK Islet Transplantation Consortium (UKITC) research program (Funding: Diabetes UK)

- Centre for Research Excellence in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (Funding: NHMRC CRE)