Prof Andrew Hattersley FRS is an outstanding clinical scientist, who is distinguished for his contributions to the understanding of the genetics of diabetes and the application of that knowledge to clinical practice. He became Gillings Chair in Precision Medicine in 2015 and leads the Precision medicine initiative in Exeter working with both scientific and clinical colleagues.

He and Prof Sian Ellard set up and currently head the premier international research team working on monogenic diabetes and has played a major role in the UK research effort into the genetics of type 2 diabetes. He continues to work as a consultant physician in diabetes while at the same time leading a large research team. His research combines state-of-the-art molecular genetics with physiological and clinical investigations in patients. He uses the accidents of nature that cause monogenic diabetes to understand the critical role of the gene product in man, in a similar fashion to many laboratory scientists who study knockout animals. A key theme of his approach is that his scientific discoveries are rapidly and effectively translated into improvements in clinical care.