Louisa Herring
Dr Louisa Herring is an Associate Professor in Physical Activity and Clinical Populations within the Leicester Lifestyle and Health Research Group at the Leicester Diabetes Centre. Her research focuses on physical activity in the context of long‑term conditions, particularly diabetes, obesity, and metabolic and bariatric surgery. She leads the translation of physical activity evidence into practical tools and clinical pathways designed to increase activity and improve long‑term health outcomes in clinical populations.
Louisa joined the Leicester–Loughborough Biomedical Research Unit as a PhD student in 2012, completing her doctorate at Loughborough University on physical activity, lifestyle, and bariatric surgery. Alongside her PhD, she worked as the exercise specialist within a Tier 3 weight management service. She has been part of the Diabetes Research Centre since 2016.
She has developed and implemented physical activity pathways within local weight management services and type 2 diabetes research programmes, and collaborates internationally to advance research and guidance on physical activity in the context of metabolic and bariatric surgery. Her recent work centres on digital tools, including Steps4Health and MyHealthMapp, designed to measure, monitor, and promote personalised 24‑hour movement behaviour support for people living with Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, and related long‑term conditions.
Favourite way to be active
Swimming, cycling and stand-up paddle boarding and Hyrox-style gym training.
Contact
Louisa.Herring@nhs.net
Research Areas
The 24-hour movement behaviours in clinical populations
Behaviour Change Interventions
Drug and Lifestyle interactions
Physical activity and exercise for clinical populations
Obesity and Weight Management
Digital health tools for monitoring and promoting 24‑hour movement behaviours and long-term health conditions
Physical function and clinical populations
Current Projects
Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) in 16 – 40 year olds: A Multifactorial Management Research Title Intervention to Address Multimorbidity in Early-Onset T2D in Adults (The M3 Research Programme)
Initiating the integration of the 24‑hour movement paradigm into metabolic and bariatric surgery research and practice
Digital and face‑to‑face physical activity in Tier 3 weight management
Development and implementation of personalised digital physical activity and long‑term condition mHealth tools (MyHealthMapp and Steps4Health)
Development of a prototype digital twin to support diabetes self‑management