Hi everyone, my name is Nathan Shin and I’m a rising sophomore from Vancouver, Canada. I’m looking to concentrate in Molecular Biology, with potential certificates in Global Health and Neuroscience. At Princeton, I’m involved in the Princeton Neuroscience Network as well as the Policy Punchline podcast. I also enjoy playing the piano, and I’m super grateful that the Music Department gave me a practice room in the (beautiful) Effron Building last semester.
This summer, I am working remotely with a professor and her graduate students at the University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur on a research project about the psychosocial impacts and quality of life among type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients during the COVID pandemic. We are using a methodology of a cross-sectional observational retrospective cohort study involving people with T2D using self-administered questionnaires on patients from University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). These patients were enrolled into the Asia-Pacific Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation Program (Asia-Pacific P-JADE), and had their post-trial follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study will identify the potential psychological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in people with T2D, and help the local authorities to identify and mobilize approaches to provide continuous psychosocial support to mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a disease in which a person’s blood sugar levels are consistently too high. The body of a diabetic person has difficulty metabolizing glucose in the way a normal person would be able to. Usually, when glucose is present, the pancreas releases the peptide hormone insulin. Insulin signals to body cells such as muscle, fat, and liver cells to uptake and store glucose as an energy reserve for later use, thereby also reducing glucose levels in the bloodstream. In diabetes patients, insulin production from pancreatic beta cells is reduced or absent altogether. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes typically develops rapidly and during childhood or adolescence. The body fights the beta cells, resulting in an inability to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes patients have insulin resistance – the effectiveness of insulin in these patients typically dwindles over time, and the body is not able to make enough insulin or use the produced insulin as effectively as before.
In Malaysia in 2019, 3.65 million individuals were diagnosed with diabetes, with an age-adjusted comparative prevalence of diabetes of 16.7% of the population. Living with diabetes can already be stressful, through factors like coping with their changing health circumstances, worries about the future, and increased relationship challenges. Insulin cost and supply can further add to the anxiety, and patients with pre-existing conditions are more likely to become seriously ill from COVID. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many ordinary challenges in all sectors of health, and while the primary and most visible pandemic is obviously related to the pathological healthcare crisis, the mental health crisis is resulting in a secondary ‘pandemic’.
The research project is my first official research experience, and it is interesting to see how the scientific process for such a study works, from data collection and analysis, to an ethics proposal and non-disclosure agreements to protect the patients. My daily work includes cleaning and aggregating the data collected through these surveys, as well as analyzing the data for patterns and trends through stratification and a variety of other statistical methods. Depending on the day, I might also be helping to present our findings or writing up reports. Because the goal is to have a final paper as the deliverable, I am going to be working with the University Malaya throughout the summer and into next semester. I’m looking forward to our second semester on campus in a month, and I hope all of your summers are going well!
