Leicester Diabetes Centre experts to speak at national obesity conference

Four experts from the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) will be presenting at the inaugural Obesity & Weight Management Alliance conference, taking place in Birmingham, UK, on Friday 17 May 2024.  

Today, around a quarter of adults in the UK are living with obesity and studies suggest this could rise to 36 per cent of the adult population by 2040.  

The Obesity & Weight Management Alliance’s national conference will provide an opportunity for leading minds, including experts from LDC, to converge to discuss the latest developments, challenges, and strategies in combating obesity. 

LDC is renowned for its pioneering research and comprehensive approach to diabetes management and education, and our experts will bring a wealth of expertise to the conference. With obesity being a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes, the insights from research conducted by LDC are invaluable in understanding the intricate relationship between the two conditions and formulating effective interventions. 

Melanie Davies CBE, Professor of Diabetes Medicine, and Co-Director of LDC, will be chairing the conference and delivering a presentation titled: ‘Type 2 diabetes - What have we learnt?'  

Scheduled for 11.10am, Prof Davies will cover what has been learned about approaches to weight management in patients with type 2 diabetes. 

Claire Meek, Professor of Chemical Pathology and Diabetes in Pregnancy for LDC, will discuss ‘The impact of obesity on pregnancy outcomes; focus on diabetes.’ 

Professor Meek will present recently published evidence about the effect of obesity on people with gestational diabetes and on people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who are pregnant. This session is scheduled for 10.40am. 

Dr Louisa Herring, Lead Research Associate in Physical Activity, Research, and Implementation for LDC, will be speaking about: ‘The role of physical activity in a holistic approach to weight management’ 

Dr Herring’s talk, taking place 1.15pm, will cover the importance of 24-hour physical behaviours for weight management, and the broader spectrum of interventional opportunities it provides to induce overall health benefits. 

Dr Dimitris Papamargaritis, Associate Professor (Clinical) and Honorary Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology for LDC, will be speaking about: ‘Pharmacotherapy: where are we and what's on the horizon?' 

At 3.05pm, Dr Papamargaritis will be talking about the currently approved pharmacotherapies for obesity and review the data from early phase clinical trials into new medications for obesity treatment.  

If you are attending the conference, come along to the LDC stand to meet members of our team and find out more about the Leicester Diabetes Centre.