Sir Stephen Patrick O'Rahilly (born 1 April 1958) is an Irish-British

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and scientist known for his research into the molecular pathogenesis of human

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

, insulin resistance and related metabolic and endocrine disorders.

Early life and education

O'Rahilly was born on 1 April 1958 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland.Ellen Ruppel Shell
Fat Genes
Discover Magazine, 1 May 2000 He was educated at Beneavin De La Salle College in Finglas, Dublin. He studied medicine at University College Dublin, graduating in 1981 with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Obstetrics (MB BCh BAO) degrees. He later continued his studies and completed a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1987.

Research

O'Rahilly undertook research into Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and Harvard Medical School, before joining the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

where he is a Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine, Director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories, Director of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit and co-director of the Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science. He is also the scientific Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Associate Faculty at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and honorary consultant physician at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. He is a professorial fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Notable Cambridge scientists with whom O'Rahilly has shared paper authorship include Krishna Chatterjee, David Dunger, Sadaf Farooqi, Nita Forouhi, Antonio Vidal-Puig, Nick Wareham, and Giles Yeo.

Awards and honours

O'Rahilly was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999, the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 2003. His nomination reads: He was awarded the Heinrich Wieland PrizeHeinrich Wieland Prize
in 2002, the InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize in 2010 and the Debrecen Award for Molecular Medicine in 2014. He delivered the 2016 Harveian Oration at the

Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

. O'Rahilly was knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to medical research. In 2017, he became a member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 2018, he was made an Honorary Doctor of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin. In 2019, O'Rahilly was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (LSW). He was also awarded the Banting Medal for his contributions towards diabetes research by the American Diabetes Association in the same year. O'Rahilly was awarded the Croonian Medal in 2011 by the Royal College of Physicians. He was awarded it again, by the Royal Society in 2022, this time jointly with Sadaf Farooqi and they presented their lecture at the

in 2022. In 2023, O'Rahilly was awarded the OU Health Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes for his outstanding research into the link between obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Personal life

O’Rahilly lives in Cambridge, England with his wife, journalist Philippa Lamb, and his stepson Felix Lamb. He was married to Suzy Oakes from 1990 until her death in 2011. He holds dual Irish and British citizenship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ORahilly, Stephen 1958 births Living people Scientists from County Dublin Diabetologists Irish medical doctors Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Knights Bachelor Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal College of Pathologists Fellows of the Royal Society NIHR Senior Investigators Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century Irish medical doctors 21st-century Irish medical doctors 20th-century British medical doctors 21st-century British medical doctors Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of University College Dublin Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Members of the Royal Irish Academy Medical doctors from County Dublin