Thread by @TheASMR1

MEET THE RESEARCHER,
Dr Shelley Gorman of @UWAresearch @uwanews and @telethonkids investigating how sun exposure may improve the well-being of people who are overweight or diabetic.

A thread 👇👇

#sunexposure #diabetes #obesity #sun #research #cardiovascular #metabolic

Over one quarter of Australian children are obese or overweight. What can we learn from science to reduce this alarming statistic?

Modifiable lifestyle factors such as exercise have the potential to improve the well being of many overweight or obese children and adults – but something as simple as sun exposure may be an equally accessible, equitable, and inexpensive tool.

Dr Shelley Gorman is a Group Leader at the Telethon Kids Institute and an adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the The University of Western Australia where she is investigating the effects of sun exposure on our health.

Shelley’s Cardiometabolic Sunhealth team has identified that ongoing exposure to safe levels of sunlight could be used to treat or even prevent the developmental obesity and associated cardiometabolic disorders like type-2 diabetes.

“Our findings in experimental animals suggest that regular exposure to low (non-burning) doses of UV light reduces weight gain, and signs of type-2 diabetes. We have discovered that many of the benefits of UV occur following the release of nitric oxide from exposed skin.”

Obesity and diabetes are national health priorities and the Cardiometabolic Sunhealth team are a dedicated team working to reduce the health and economic burden of these diseases.

“Research allows us to explore, be curious, and discover ways to improve the lives of others.”

Outside of medical research, Shelley has two young daughters and loves playing the piano and being outdoors. She rides an eBike to work, loves running and says, “I have been trying - with mixed success - to propagate vegies that germinate in my fridge and pantry”.

Shelley is accepting future Honours and PhD students to expand research into UV light - contact ASMR for details. “We’re looking for new students to help us find out whether benefits of UV light also occur in people, and to translate our findings in the community.”

If you’d like to hear more about Shelley’s work, check out this talk she gave at a @DiabetesWA outreach event:

or this presentation she gave for the @ASImmunology
facebook.com/watch/live/?v=… (fast forward to half way in)