Dr Val Wilson is an academic with a PhD in diabetes health education from the University of Kent, UK. As a specialist in the field, over the past 25 years, she has conducted various research studies about how people self-manage their diabetes, also carrying out more than ten years of voluntary work with the INPUT (Insulin Pump Therapy) national diabetes organisation.Dr Wilson has published widely in nursing and healthcare journals, having written over 30 articles and seven books, most recently, How To Live Well with Diabetes, and How To Reduce Your Child’s Sugar Intake, both published by Robinson. She has sat on various Government working parties aiming to improve care for patients with type 1 diabetes. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health; a member of The Society for Medical Writers, and a member of the Non-Fiction Authors Association. In 2023, Val won The British Psychological Society best text book award for her book, Psychology in Diabetes Care and Practice.In April, 2019, Val was awarded a Pride in Medway Award in recognition of an outstanding contribution to Medway health and hospitals. This recognises Dr Wilson’s research regarding effective diabetes self-management with essential information, education and support to prevent and/or stabilise diabetes complications and improve quality of life. In December, 2018, Val was made a Diabetes Ambassador by Medtronic Diabetes for her example of living well with diabetes while using insulin pump therapy. Val has written, lectured and published widely on this subject of insulin pump therapy to educate health professionals and individuals who may benefit from this diabetes technology.Having had brittle type 1 diabetes for 48 years, Val has used insulin pump therapy instead of injections for the past 25 years. She also uses a combined insulin pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System.