Andrew Hattersley
The Power List 2015
Andrew Hattersley
Lauded for his medical, research and educational contributions to clinical science, Andrew is a consultant physician and professor of molecular medicine at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK. It was Andrew’s work as a training fellow at Oxford that identified glucokinase as the first known genetic cause of diabetes and piqued his interest. In his 20 years at Exeter, he has taken the university from one without a genetics lab to one hosting the premier international research center for monogenic diabetes – where he now leads a 29-person team that integrates research, diagnostics and patient care. Just over 10 years ago, he discovered that many patients formerly diagnosed with diabetes were not incapable of producing insulin, but rather possessed a potassium channel gene defect that prevented their pancreatic beta cells from responding to increases in blood sugar. Shortly thereafter, he demonstrated that sulfonylurea drugs produce excellent glycemic control in these patients – who, thanks to his work, no longer require
insulin treatment.
