Fellowship

Robert Semple is Professor of Translational Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He trained in Biochemistry and then in Medicine in Cambridge, with clinical postgraduate training in London and Cambridge, including a PhD in the laboratory of Prof. Sir Stephen O’Rahilly. Over the past 20 years his clinical and research interests have centred on people with rare and severe hormonal and metabolic disorders caused by alterations in single genes. His laboratory has discovered numerous new genetic diseases featuring diabetes, low blood glucose, insulin resistance, failed puberty and/or abnormal growth. He aims to translate research findings into clinical benefits for affected patients, and also to use such rare conditions to improve understanding of common diseases linked to obesity. Approaches in his research group span clinical trials, experimental medicine, and disease modelling in cells and animals. Prof Semple is also committed to mentorship, research training, and public and patient engagement. He has been Director of the Cambridge MBPhD programme, Director of Clinical Studies for Clare College, Cambridge, and Dean of Postgraduate Research for the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.