Rolf Luft Award 2015

The prize lecture "From base change to better care in diabetes" was held at the Rolf Luft Symposium on May 27.

Motivation

Andrew Hattersley is an outstanding clinical investigator who combines state of the art molecular genetics with clinical studies. He established and currently heads the premier international research team working on monogenic diabetes whilst continuing to work as a practising physician in diabetes and endocrinology. He has made major contributions in the genetics, pathophysiology and therapy of diabetes publishing over 400 original articles. His clinical descriptions and physiological studies of patients with monogenic diabetes have uncovered an essential role for novel proteins in the beta-cell and extra-pancreatic sites. The dramatic pharmacogenetic responses he described in potassium channel neonatal diabetes and hepatic nuclear factor maturity-onset diabetes in the young (MODY) has revolutionised patients’ treatment. This work has made molecular genetic diagnosis of monogenic diabetes essential in routine clinical practice.