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Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care

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Yun-Ting (Joyce) Huang

Yun-Ting (Joyce) Huang photo

My PhD title: Polypharmacy in older adults – prevalence, risk factors, and associations with mortality – and the role of diabetes.

Supervisors: Dr Paola Zaninotto (Primary), Prof Andrew Steptoe, Prof Li Wei

My PhD research focuses on polypharmacy issues among older adults using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Wave 6 of ELSA collected medication profiles during nurse visits for the first time, providing researchers with an opportunity to investigate polypharmacy in community-dwelling older adults. I aim to study the prevalence of and risk factors for polypharmacy as well as health outcomes of polypharmacy in my PhD. At the same time, the role of diabetes in polypharmacy is also explored. Four main objectives of my PhD are below.

  1. The change in the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes between 2004 and 2012, and risk factors for undiagnosed diabetes.
  2. The prevalence of and risk factors for polypharmacy, according to diabetes status.
  3. The association between different levels of polypharmacy and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
  4. The relationship between high-risk medications and all-cause and cause-specific mortality among older adults with polypharmacy.

Background

I obtained my BSc in Pharmacy and MSc in Natural Products at the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan. After finishing my study, I worked as a Clinical Pharmacist in hospital for five years. Over the hospital period, I completed a training programme and became a Certified Diabetes Educator. I also collaborated with a paediatrician for an intervention study in hospital, which raised my interest in researching health issues, especially for long-term conditions (e.g. diabetes).

Qualifications

MSc Natural Product, Kaohsiung Medical University (2009-2011)

BSc Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University (2005-2009)

Publications

  1. Huang YT, et al, Dose-response relationships between polypharmacy and all-cause and cause-specific mortality among older people. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, under review.
  2. Huang YT, et al, Polypharmacy difference between older people with and without diabetes: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, under review.
  3. Zaninotto P, Huang YT, Di Gessa G et al, Polypharmacy is a risk factor for hospital admission due to a fall: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. BMC Public Health 20, 1804 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09920-x.
  4. Huang YT, Steptoe A, Zaninotto P. Prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in 2004 and 2012: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Jul 16: glaa179. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glaa179. Epub ahead of print.
  5. Huang YT., et al, Secondary Metabolites from the Roots of Beilschmiedia tsangii and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activities, International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2012, 13, 16430–16443.
  6. Huang YT., et al, Anti-inflammatory Endiandric Acid Analogues from the Roots of Beilschmiedia tsangii, Journal of Natural Products. 2011, 74, 1875–1880.

 

Appointments

Research Assistant in Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (2020-Present).

Postgraduate Teaching Assistant in Basic Statistics for Medical Sciences, University College London (2018-Present).

 

Email: yun-ting.huang@ucl.ac.uk