I trained as an endocrinologist in Cambridge (UK) and London, and came late to research, combining the final years of my medical training with a foray into diabetes genetics under Graham Hitman and Newton Morton. A year spent in Boston with Eric Lander in the mid 90s was transformative. On my return to the UK, I took up a joint clinical and research post at Imperial College, London, and built a team working on the genetics of type 2 diabetes.