Patrick Ngassa Piotie

Dr Patrick Ngassa Piotie is a senior programme manager at the University of Pretoria (UP) Diabetes Research Centre. He has been managing the Tshwane Insulin Project (TIP), a programme that supports people with type 2 diabetes in primary care as they transition from oral drugs to insulin and provides training to healthcare professionals in comprehensive diabetes management.

Patrick has more than ten years of experience working in public health and as a researcher. He is passionate about implementation research because he believes in the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice to improve health services and the quality of care. Patrick is skilled in qualitative and quantitative research methods and has developed strong writing skills as demonstrated by several peer-reviewed articles published in both local and international scientific journals.

Patrick contributed to the creation of the UP Diabetes Research Centre in response to the need for academic institutions to be more involved in finding evidence-based solutions to improve the lives of South Africans with diabetes. The UP Diabetes Research Centre was then established in November 2020. In addition to his research and academic work, Patrick is involved as an advocate for people living with diabetes. He is currently the chairperson of the Diabetes Alliance and he was involved in the organisation of the Inaugural South African Diabetes Summit in 2021.

Patrick is a qualified medical doctor and a public health specialist. He holds a master’s in public health (MPH) from the University of Pretoria and is currently completing a doctoral degree in public health.