Janet Jarvis reflects on 23 years at the Leicester Diabetes Centre
Janet Jarvis (JJ)
Janet Jarvis, known as JJ by her colleagues, is a Senior Nurse Associate and Associate Professor (Hons) here at the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC).
Over the last 23 years at the LDC, JJ’s experiences and achievements have been significant. From project management and attending international meetings to fundraising and writing research protocols and grants. JJ has also contributed to 32 journal articles, 79 abstracts, and presented at national and international conferences. We asked JJ to share her career journey.
JJ completed her Adult Nurse Training in 1996 in Leicester and was among the first cohort of nurses who had to complete the degree as part of the Project 2000 initiative. During the training, JJ focused on cardiac specialities, including cardiac intensive care, surgery, high dependency and cardiology.
From 1996 to 1998, JJ became an Associate Nurse at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust’s (UHL) Glenfield Hospital and became the ward diabetes link nurse. JJ studied for the ENB928 Diabetes qualification during this time and met Dietitian, Jacqui Troughton, from the Leicester General Hospital (LGH), who delivered a lecture as part of this course.
Inspired by Jacqui’s enthusiasm for diabetes, JJ became a Nurse Research Fellow at LGH in 1998. She led her own research project in initiation of different insulin regimens and was also a developmental Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN). JJ also embarked upon an MSc in Health Promotion at Brunel University in London.
JJ explains: “I am always studying and learning. I taught myself Spanish while driving to and from Brunel University to make the most of the time spent travelling. The following year I achieved a GSCE in Spanish at night school.”
In 1999, JJ worked at the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield as a Research Fellow before returning to UHL and the LDC in 2001 as a Senior Diabetes Nurse Research Associate. JJ adds: “I was brought in to build academic research. There were only three of us in the early days. We did a lot of commercial research studies, and the team grew massively to run various screening studies. It is amazing how much the LDC has grown over the years.”
During the early years, the LDC was selected as the Lord Mayor of Leicester’s charity. The STAR Appeal (Screening Those At Risk) was launched to raise money to fund vital research in to screening for diabetes and developing risk scores to identify those with undiagnosed diabetes.
“It was a busy few years! We did lots of screening events and fundraising, including ‘It’s a Knockout’. We hired an old London red bus that was converted into a clinic which went round Leicester to screen people for diabetes.
“We had some adventures, including our generator being stolen during one clinic! It was so cold on the bus; I’m surprised we even managed to take blood from participants!”
The following year a new bus was kindly donated to the LDC team by Thurmaston Bus Company. JJ explains: “When we got the new bus, I got my HGV licence so I could drive it around because we couldn’t find a driver! We actually got quite a bit of media coverage on the local BBC news TV programme and articles in the Nursing Times, Nursing Standard, Leicester Mercury and the Times, which was great coverage for diabetes and the STAR Appeal!”
In 2016, JJ became the Co-Course Director of the Distance Learning Diabetes MSc course, which is delivered by at the LDC and the University of Leicester. Prior to this JJ was part of the teaching team who delivered MSc modules for the campus-based Diabetes MSc programme, which started in October 2008. In 2012, Sam Seidu became the first student to receive the Diabetes MSc degree. He has since progressed in his career and is now a Professor of Primary Care Diabetes & Cardio-metabolic Medicine at the LDC.
JJ explains: “We are really lucky that our MSc students come from all over the world, from various professional backgrounds. The MSc is supported by our wonderful core team and module leads at the LDC, who cover a range of topics including adult inpatient, self-management, type 1 and technology, and prevention and obesity. The wonderful thing about the MSc is that all the modules can be completed as one-off Continued Professional Development (CPD) modules too.”
In 2016, JJ co-authored a book titled ‘Handbook of Insulin Therapies’ with Dr Winston Crasto, who sadly passed away in January 2024. JJ and Winston worked together at UHL for many years and became great friends outside work. Winston became a Consultant and Medical Director at the George Elliot Hospital in Warwickshire and continued to provide clinical expertise and input to the MSc programmes. JJ hopes to develop an annual ‘Winston Crasto Prize’ for students on the MSc to honour his memory.
In 2014, following a close family member bereavement and post-natal depression, JJ saw a decline in her psychological well-being. JJ spent the next few years seeking help through counselling and hypnotherapy. This inspired JJ to help others in the same way and in 2017 she qualified as a hypnotherapist and the following year began 5 years of training to become a counsellor. JJ is now a qualified person-centred counsellor and volunteers for a local counselling organisation called Pathways which offers affordable counselling for people in the area.
Professor Melanie Davies, Co-Director of the LDC, said: “JJ was here from the very beginning and has been a pivotal part of the LDC's success. Her energy, enthusiasm, passion and skill have helped drive the LDC to be a world leader with our University of Leicester accredited, international Diabetes Masters degree course, which supports healthcare professionals and academics to develop and advance diabetes care globally.
“We are all so fortunate to have JJ in the team – she is an absolute gem.”
Looking ahead, JJ is excited to further develop the existing MSc programme along with developing a new MSc in Lifestyle Medicine with funding secured by Professor Tom Yates and Professor Charlotte Edwardson. She also hopes to gain Senior Fellowship of Advance HE (SFHEA). Within counselling JJ is supporting Pathways as a Director to become a non-profit community interest company. JJ is looking forward to growing this organisation with fellow counsellors to secure its future.
JJ’s career to date has been varied and has evolved based on her desire to continually learn and embrace opportunities. When asked what advice she would give other reflecting on their career journey, she said: “Push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Staying in your comfort zone is not where the magic happens. You need to have the confidence to take yourself outside of it.”