Charlotte Edwardson
I completed a BSc in Applied Sports Science (2004) and MSc (2005) and PhD (part time, 2010) in Physical Activity and Health, from Loughborough University. Alongside my PhD I worked as a part time Research Associate (2005-2010) for the Institute of Youth Sport, Loughborough University where I specialised in the evaluation of physical activity initiatives in young people. Following this I moved into the area of diabetes prevention and worked as a Research Associate/Project Manager, University Hospitals of Leicester (2010-2013), on several randomised controlled trials focused on increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour in people with a high risk of type 2 diabetes.
In 2013 I was appointed Lecturer in the Diabetes Research Centre, University of Leicester, and subsequently Associate Professor in 2016 and then Professor in 2023. Over the last decade, I have worked with Prof Tom Yates to establish the Leicester Lifestyle and Health Research Group (LLHRG), for which I am Deputy Director. The LLHRG conducts research to understand how movement behaviours can prevent and manage long term health conditions e.g., type 2 diabetes. I was the co-lead of the UoA24 Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 submission, which was the first submission by the University of Leicester to UoA24 and it ranked 2nd overall out of 61 higher educational institutes submitted. I will again co-lead the REF2029 UoA submission.
I have also been pivotal in creating the infrastructure to embed accelerometer assessments across studies within the Leicester Diabetes Centre and the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, enabling accelerometer assessments in >13,000 participants over the past decade. I am currently the Editor in Chief for the Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour and part of the UK Biobank’s working group on wearables.
I have published >170 peer reviewed articles and been awarded ~£25 million from prestigious funding bodies such as NIHR, MRC, UKRI and the European Commission.
I co-lead the Prevention, Diabetes and Obesity module on the MSc Diabetes.
Favourite way to be active
Exercise classes such as Body Pump and Body Combat.
Contact
ce95@leicester.ac.uk
Research Areas
Current Projects
Comparison of wearable and nearable research-grade and consumer devices that measure daily physical behaviour (sleep, sitting and physical activity)
Collecting and utiliSing accElerometer data from patients in earLy phasE Cancer Trials to assess physical activity and fatigue (SELECT study)
A randomised controlled trial of the Snacktivity intervention
Accelerometer-assessed physical behaviours in people with long-terms conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Sedentary behaviour in people with Peripheral Arterial Disease
Feasibility and acceptability of a sedentary behaviour reduction programme in people with Peripheral Arterial Disease
Accelerometer-assessed physical behaviour during pregnancy in women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes
Past Projects
A three arm cluster randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the SMART Work & Life intervention for reducing daily sitting time in office workers
The Regulate your Sitting Time (RESIT) intervention for reducing sitting time in individuals with type 2 diabetes
Comparison of postural and physical activity metrics from different accelerometer brands worn on the thigh
Equivalency of sleep estimates: Comparison of three-research grade accelerometers worn on both wrists
Criterion validity of an automated sleep detection algorithm applied to data from three research-grade accelerometers worn on each wrist with concurrent laboratory-based polysomnography (PSG)