Grace's keen interest in children's health and wellbeing, and her desire to develop her research skills, knowledge and experience, led her to complete a BMedSc(Hons) with the Department of Women's & Children's Health.
Her BMedSc(Hons) research year was supervised by Associate Professor Barbara Galland, Associate Professor Benjamin Wheeler and Dr Sara Boucher, and consisted of two projects.
The first, SKIDDO (Sleep in Kids with Diabetes), examined sleep alterations and habits among children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), including the relationship between glycemic control and sleep health. The second, a qualitative study, explored sleep health in parents and caregivers providing nocturnal care to children with T1D, including the role of emerging diabetes technologies.
She has since published research papers from both studies in international journals, highlighting the importance of exploring sleep health in children living with a chronic condition (T1D) and their caregivers. She won the 2018 Otago Medical School Research Society Masters/Honours Speaker Award, and the Australasian Sleep Association New Investigator Award in 2019 for her work.
Currently Grace is working as a Junior Doctor at Dunedin Hospital. She has a keen interest in Paediatrics, and hopes to pursue and combine clinical and research work in this area in the future.