He has been involved in several major national and international multi-center epidemiological studies, randomized controlled trials, public health surveillance, translation research and health policy studies. His seminal scientific contributions include advancing of diabetes prevention trials, conceptualizing and advancing diabetes translation research, systematic documentation of type 2 diabetes in youth and raising it as a public health problem, the world’s first assessment of lifetime risk of diabetes, models of projection of diabetes burdens, first paper on national incidence of childhood obesity, and lately highlighting insulin-deficient phenotypes of type 2 diabetes. He is currently also exploring pancreatic beta cell biology and intriguing differences in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes in Asian, African, Native American and developing countries’ populations globally. With more than 570 publications, including several high-impact studies, and over 210,000 citations, his work exemplifies his global leadership and influence in diabetes and noncommunicable science and public health.