16 November 2011

Dundee Professor elected president of international Diabetes body

Professor Stephen Greene, of the University of Dundee, has been elected President of the International Society of Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), one of the world's leading bodies on child health.

Professor Greene is the Academic Lead on Child Health in the School of Medicine at Dundee. He will serve at ISPAD President from 2012 to 2015, during which time he will oversee their 2014 annual conference in Toronto, the city where insulin was discovered.

'I am deeply honoured to be elected President of such a prestigious organisation,' said Professor Greene. 'I very much see this achievement as a reflection of the work carried out by all of the Children's Diabetes research group here in Tayside and the international reputation that has been grown over the past 15 years.

'The University of Dundee is already internationally renowned as a centre of excellence in diabetes research and this can only add to that.'

Professor Greene qualified from University College Hospital, London, and subsequently pursued a career in Child Health with positions in Oxford, Great Ormond Street, London, the Kinderspital Hospital in Zurich, and Guy's Hospital, London. He was appointed as NHS Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist for Tayside in 1987 and then moved to the University of Dundee in 1998 as Senior Lecturer and then Reader in Child and Adolescent Health. He was appointed Academic Lead for Child Health in 2009.

His specific research interests lie in diabetes in the young, growth disorders and paediatric endocrinology. He is Chair of the International Board of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and has personal commitments to projects in Kenya and Kurdistan.

Professor Greene will be attending a reception at the Scottish Parliament tonight (Weds Nov 16th) highlighting diabetes. The reception is hosted by Sir Michael Hirst of the University of Edinburgh who is the incoming President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the world support and advocacy organisation for diabetes in all age groups. ISPAD and IDF work closely together and the presence of both Presidents from the same country at the same time is a unique achievement for Scotland.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the International Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes ( ISPAD):
Globally, diabetes is a disease in evolution affecting more and more children and adolescents. ISPAD is a professional organisation whose aims are to promote clinical and basic science, research, education and advocacy in childhood and adolescent diabetes. The strength of ISPAD lies in the scientific and clinical expertise in childhood and adolescent diabetes of its members. ISPAD is the only international society focusing specifically on all types of childhood diabetes. All forms of diabetes treatment in childhood should be based upon scientific evidence or clinical consensus. www.ispad.org.

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