Event Description
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Dissertation Defense
Chioma Uzoigwe, MPH, will present "Clinical Effects of Compliance with Antidepressants on Glycemic Control in
Adults Treated for Comorbid Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Major Depressive
Disorder."
Dissertation committee: Longjian Liu, MD, PhD (Advisor), Felice
Le-Scherban, PhD, Christopher Blanchette, PhD (external), Deeptha Sukumar, PhD,
Agus Surachman, PhD
Adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) experience disproportionately
high rates of comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD), a combination
associated with poorer self-management, reduced medication adherence and worse
clinical outcomes. Despite the clinical importance of treating both conditions,
evidence regarding how antidepressant use and adherence behaviors influence
glycemic control remains limited and methodologically inconsistent.
This dissertation examined the real-world relationship between
antidepressant use and glycemic control among adults with treated T2DM and
comorbid MDD across three aims: (1) characterizing baseline differences between
antidepressant initiators and non-initiators, (2) estimating the association
between antidepressant initiation and glycemic control with explicit attention
to compliance and persistence, and (3) formally evaluating whether compliance
and persistence mediate the antidepressant-glycemic control relationship.
Chioma Uzoigwe is a senior real-world evidence leader with over 17 years of
experience spanning health economics, outcomes research, and evidence
generation across U.S. and global markets. She currently serves as Director of
Real World Evidence at Novo Nordisk, Inc., where she leads research delivering
high-quality, decision-ready evidence across multiple therapeutic areas,
including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver health, and Alzheimer's
disease.
Chioma holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Stanford University and
a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey. She is completing her Doctor of Philosophy in
Epidemiology at Drexel University, where her dissertation examines the clinical
effects of antidepressant compliance on glycemic control in adults with
comorbid type 2 diabetes and major depressive disorder.
Her research portfolio includes over a dozen peer-reviewed publications and
more than 30 conference presentations at leading scientific meetings, including
the American Diabetes Association, ISPOR, and the American College of
Cardiology. She is a two-time recipient of Novo Nordisk's CMR Leadership and
Drive Change Awards and was selected as one of two nominees to represent Novo
Nordisk in the Women of Color in Pharma Global Leadership Accelerator in 2024.
Chioma is passionate about mentoring talent, advancing health equity in
real-world research, and building evidence that connects data to the patients
behind it.
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