Meet the team
Our Programme Team are supporting partners to achieve our aims and implement projects across our four work streams. In light of our ambitious objectives, we are supporting and challenging each other to do things differently in order to drive change.
Lucy Shardalow
Communications Manager
East of Scotland Type 2 Diabetes Programme
Lucy leads on strategic communications for the programme. This includes establishing our brand identity, setting up channels and platforms to communicate with our key stakeholders, and promoting all of the great work taking place across the region. She is also facilitating information exchange, sharing of best practice and collaboration among partners. Lucy is passionate about producing informative and thought provoking content, for an organisation or cause that helps people and advances positive change. Lucy graduated in 2014 from Glasgow Caledonian University, where she studied a postgraduate degree in Multimedia Journalism. Prior to that she spent four years at the University of Glasgow completing her undergraduate MA (Hons) in Politics and Sociology. She produced national and international events within the Energy and Environment Division at Haymarket Media Group and for GovNet Communications in London, having most recently spent three years as part of the communications team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Outside of work, she loves to travel, spend time with friends, eat good food and make the most of the great Scottish outdoors – hiking, cycling and dabbling in adventure sports.
Email: Lucy.Shardalow@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 07877 608850
Fun Fact: Lucy is an identical twin and self-confessed ski fanatic, hitting the slopes when she was just 5 years old.
Email: Lucy.Shardalow@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 07877 608850
Jo Teece
Project Manager
Children & Young People
Jo is managing the implementation of our Children and Young People workstream. She is passionate about change, innovation and learning. Jo relished the opportunity to join our team to build on her skills in project management, within an area of personal interest. She graduated from Leeds with a BSc (Hons) in Nutrition and Dietetics, then working for a decade as a Dietitian in the North West of England. Jo has developed a strong skill set in diabetes, weight management, behaviour change and quality improvement through dietetics posts at NHS Lothian and NHS Fife. Prior to this role, Jo worked at Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, managing the launch of Health Defence – an innovative prevention programme. Jo completed the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) digital leadership programme in 2017 and is active within the digital Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHP) network, blogging frequently for Allied Health Professionals Scotland. She also sits on the Scotland Board of the British Dietetic Association. Outside of work, Jo loves sport and getting out in the fresh air.
Email: Joanna.Teece@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 07970 035159
Fun Fact: Jo has met the queen and swam across Lake Windermere (not at the same time!)
Email: Joanna.Teece@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 07970 035159
Laura Herrero
Project Support Manager
East of Scotland Type 2 Diabetes Programme
Laura supports our programme team to deliver all projects; organising meetings, monitoring risks and actions, general problem solving and ensuring that everything runs smoothly. She also leads on data management and analysis across the programme, having created the data reporting tool used by our NHS Boards which has also been adopted nationally. In 2014, Laura graduated in Law and Business Management in Madrid, then moving to Scotland to help as a volunteer in a charity centre. She has worked in Germany, supporting the production of different scientific conferences, including the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) Conference in Valencia. She also has experience in agile project management to find and prevent fraud, through her previous role in Madrid. In her spare time, she likes to travel, watch films, eat good food with friends and (when the Scottish weather allows it) go walking with her husband and dog.
Email: Laura.Herrero@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 07811 315644
Fun Fact: Laura lived off the grid in a cabin in Scotland for almost two years and plays the cello, which she spent five years learning in Madrid.
Email: Laura.Herrero@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 07811 315644
Kerry Aitken
Clinical Lead - Adult Weight Management
East of Scotland Type 2 Diabetes Programme
Kerry is our Clinical Lead for the Adult Weight Management workstream – providing vital dietetic input to support the delivery of high-quality, accessible and equitable intervention programmes across the region. Kerry started out as a fitness instructor and freelance personal trainer, which sparked her interest in improving people’s health through exercise and nutrition. She then studied dietetics in Edinburgh and went on to work at NHS Fife, where she has been a dietitian for over 20 years. Kerry initially specialised in dietetics for acute surgery and critical care, making the move to weight management in 2014. She became the weight management team lead in Fife at a time when the service was starting to expand and has supported the team to transform the service over the past few years. She has also worked within the Anorexia Neurosia Intensive Treatment (ANIT) service, supporting patients with eating disorders. Outside of work, Kerry is a keen trail runner and loves getting lost in the hills. She also enjoys cooking and spending time with her daughters, husband and cat Teddy.
Email: kerry.aitken2@nhs.scot
Phone: 013838 674087
Fun Fact: Kerry walked the Great Wall of China to raise money for Maggie's Charity in 2002. The experience was one she'll never forget.
Email: kerry.aitken2@nhs.scot
Phone: 013838 674087
Susannah Scarlett
Primary Care Lead
East of Scotland Type 2 Diabetes Programme
Suzy is one of our Primary Care Leads for the programme, providing clinical input and expertise to enhance engagement with primary care colleagues in Lothian. Suzy is a GP based at a practice in North Edinburgh, where levels of deprivation and diabetes risk is high. She graduated from Edinburgh in 2008 and spent her foundation years working at NHS Tayside. Suzy then returned to Edinburgh to start her specialty training in Acute Medicine, before taking the path into general practice. Suzy has always had a keen interest in preventative medicine and recently enjoyed working towards a Diploma in Lifestyle Medicine. She joined the East of Scotland Type 2 Diabetes Programme team at the beginning of 2021 and is looking forward to getting stuck in to this vital area of work, as one of our new Primary Care Clinical Leads. As a grass roots GP, Suzy is delighted to be involved in our programme and bring colleagues together across the region to help make a difference to the lives of people living with or at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Email: Susannah.Scarlett@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 0131 552 5544
Fun Fact: I like to practice what I preach, my favourite pillar of health is movement and sitting is the new smoking, so I’m in love with the standing desk. Improvised, adjustable, whatever works for you!
Email: Susannah.Scarlett@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 0131 552 5544
Sarah Lindsay
Primary Care Lead
East of Scotland Type 2 Diabetes Programme
Sarah is one of our Primary Care Leads for the programme, providing clinical input and expertise to enhance engagement with primary care colleagues in Lothian. Sarah is a nurse at a General Practice (GP) in Midlothian where she has worked for the past eight years. She studied nursing at the University of Edinburgh before undertaking training to become a General Practice Nurse, gaining the relevant professional qualifications. Sarah continues to deliver diabetes care alongside her GP colleagues, obtaining a Diploma in the management of diabetes in 2014. She is also a prescriber and enjoys the dynamic and busy days that General Practice provides. Working in Primary Care for over a decade, Sarah has gathered a breadth of experience and understanding of the determinants of health and health inequalities. She has worked on health improvement projects with a specific focus on the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In 2019 she wrote a short paper on health literacy in the context of long term condition management. Over the years she has developed an interest in public health and policy, so now is delighted to be part of this pioneering programme. As one of our primary care leads, she hopes to improve communication between primary and secondary care, raise awareness of our services and ensure that they are accessible to those who need them.
Email: Sarah.Lindsay@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 0131 440 0149
Fun Fact: Sarah loves to spend time getting active with her young family, finding new recipes to try out in the kitchen and most recently trying her hand at growing fruit and vegetables in the garden - with varying success!
Email: Sarah.Lindsay@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 0131 440 0149
Shabnam Hussain
Primary Care Lead
East of Scotland Type 2 Diabetes Programme
Shabnam is one of our Primary Care Leads for the programme, providing clinical input and expertise to enhance engagement with primary care colleagues in Fife. Shabnam has worked as a GP in Fife for the past nine years. She left surgical training to pursue a career in primary care as she found the continuity of supporting patients from cradle to grave to be extremely rewarding and loves being on the front line. Shabnam currently works at New Park Medical Practice, regularly providing out of hours care. She is the lead for Foundation Year 2 students at her practice and enjoys supporting colleagues – also ensuring pharmacists and Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) receive training to achieve their independent prescriber status. A few years ago she took on the lead role for diabetes management at her practice and has built her knowledge to optimise support for diabetic patients. Shabnam is passionate about the work of our partnership and importance of lifestyle modification, whereby diabetes is common in her family. She hopes to advance a joined up approach to the provision of type 2 diabetes care and understanding of the condition, collaborating with other healthcare professionals to educate current and future generations. Outside of work, Shabnam likes walking – something she has taken up during lockdown.
Email: Shabnam.Hussain@nhs.scot
Phone: 01383 629200
Fun Fact: Shabnam is a full time GP and busy mum - bringing up a young family. In between this and supporting her husband who runs his own business, she's trying hard to embrace lifestyle change and get active - something that wasn't part of her upbringing.
Email: Shabnam.Hussain@nhs.scot
Phone: 01383 629200