Diabetes UK’s Research Committee is composed of diabetes experts, including clinical and scientific experts. The Research Committee meets twice a year to make funding decisions on project grants.
Throughout the rest of the year, Research Committee members are called upon to make funding recommendations on early-career small grant, fellowship and, studentship applications, along with any applications submitted for strategic calls.
We occasionally, as needed, also invite people with special expertise onto the Research Committee.
Diabetes UK Research Committee
As of January 2024
Chair:
Professor Helen McShane, Professor of Vaccinology and Director of Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford
Specialist experts:
Professor Alan Stitt, McCauley Chair of Experimental Ophthalmology, Queen’s University Belfast
Associate Professor Richard Stevens, Associated Professor of Medical Statistics, University of Oxford
Professor Ines Barroso, Professor of Diabetes, University of Exeter
Dr Bo Liu, Lecturer in Physiology, King's College London
Dr Aileen King, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, King's College London
Professor Kathleen Gillespie, Professor of Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol
Professor Sheila Greenfield, Professor of Medical Sociology, University of Birmingham
Dr Rachel Besser, Consultant in Paediatric in Diabetes & Endocrinology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Lucilla Poston, Professor of Maternal & Fetal Health, King's College London
Dr Beverley Shields, Senior Lecturer in Medical Statistics, University of Exeter
Professor Daniel Cuthbertson, Reader and Honorary Consultant Physician, University of Liverpool
Professor Gwyn Gould, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde
Dr Julia Mader, Associate Professor of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria
Professor Nicholas Morton, Personal Chair of Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh
Professor Steve Bain, Assistant Medical Director for Research & Development, Swansea University
Professor Amitava Banerjee, Professor of Clinical Data Science, University College London
Professor Francesco Cosentino, Senior Physician and a Professor of Clinical Cardiovascular Research, Karolinska Institute
Professor Pamela Dyson, Research Dietitian, University of Oxford
Professor Justin Rochford, Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen
Professor Tunde Peto, Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, Queen's University Belfast
Professor Paul Squires, Professor in Biomedical Science, University of Lincoln
Professor Samuel Seidu, Professor in Primary Care Diabetes and Cardio-metabolic Medicine, University of Leicester
Dr David Wright, Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmic Data Science, Queen's University Belfast
Ms Petra Martina Baumann, Division of Endocrinology & Diabetology, Medical University of Graz
Dr Matthew Campbell, Principal Investigator in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Sunderland
Professor Frances Game, Consultant Diabetologist, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Ramzi Ajjan, Professor of Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds
Dr Astrid Hauge-Evans, Senior Lecturer, University of Roehampton
Dr Richard Oram, Diabetes UK Harry Keen Fellow, University of Exeter
Dr Hanieh Yaghootkar, Senior Lecturer in Precision Health and Diabetes UK RD Lawrence fellow, University of Lincoln
Professor Claire Meek, Professor of Chemical Pathology and Diabetes in Pregnancy, University of Leicester
Dr Charlotte Moffett, Lecturer in Pharmacology and Molecular Pathology, University of Ulster
The members of our Research Committee and Funding Panels agree to abide by a conflict-of-interest policy and code of conduct.
Funding Panels
RD Lawrence, Sir George Alberti and Harry Keen Research Training Fellowships
Funding Panels that comprise appropriate members of the Research Committee, and may have co-opted expertise if required, review the RD Lawrence, Sir George Alberti and Harry Keen Research Training Fellowships.
For each Fellowship round a Funding Panel made up of Research Committee members is assembled. There are times when other researchers will be invited to join the panel if specific expertise not covered by the Research Committee is required.
Each Panel shortlists applicants based on the criteria outlined in each scheme and on comments from external peer-reviewers. Shortlisted applicants are invited for interview.
PhD studentship
The Funding Panel for PhD Studentships is comprised of appropriate members of the Research Committee and may have co-opted expertise if required.
The Panel makes funding decisions based on the criteria outlined for each scheme. Applicants are not required to be interviewed.
Grants Advisory Panel (GAP)
We’re committed to involving people living with diabetes in the research funding process. To reflect this, we established our Grants Advisory Panel (GAP), comprised of people with lived experience of diabetes or of caring for those who do, making them experts by experience. Their role is to convey the collective perspective of people living with or at risk of diabetes.
Members of GAP work with our Research Committee to review grant applications, to ensure the research we fund is relevant and meaningful to people living with or at risk of diabetes.
Before the Research Committee or Panel meeting, members of the GAP meet in focus groups to come up with an agreed score for each application. A representative from each focus group meeting is selected to attend the Research Committee or Panel meeting and provide feedback on behalf of the group. The GAP comments and score are considered when the final funding decisions are made.
Their primary role is to review and score the plain English summary section and the patient and public involvement (PPI) section of research grant applications.
GAP members – as of September 2023
John Turner
Clare Dowling
Robert Lowndes
Rohit Patel
Ron McDowall
Goher Ayman
Jo Slesser
Katerina Zachapourolou
Abhijit Chakrabarti
Dilys Shepherd
Kay Murray
Sophie Maitland Smith
Kumar Varma
Jessica Hibbert
Gareth Price
Lewis Haigh
Emily Ottman
Ashley Ward
Anil Gumber
Julie Piacentini
Hannah Young
Louise Greenway
Carolyn Newbert
