Lola Douglas scholarship supports research into gestational diabetes

Shamil Cooray

PhD candidate Shamil Cooray is the recipient of the 2018 Lola Douglas Scholarship, funded through a bequest from the Estate of the late Miss Lola Douglas.

The scholarship helps support Shamil to complete his PhD at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI).

"My research focuses on gestational diabetes, a condition which affects more than one in ten women and is becoming more common," Shamil said.

"It increases the risk of complications to the pregnancy and may also adversely affect the future health of the mother and her children."

Shamil said there has been little prior research into the best system of education and pregnancy care for women with gestational diabetes. 

"I will work with these women to develop an innovative model for pregnancy care that provides individualised guidance to impact health positively," he said.