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 In pathology, pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes . Descript ...

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 Insulin resistance (IR) is a pathological response in which cells in insulin-sensitive tissues in the body fail to respond normally to the hormone insulin or downregulate insulin receptors in response to hyperinsulinemia. Insulin is a horm ...

and related metabolic and

endocrine The endocrine system is a messenger system in an organism comprising feedback loops of hormones that are released by internal glands directly into the circulatory system and that target and regulate distant organs. In vertebrates, the hypotha ...

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 ''Discover'' is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It is currently owned by LabX Media Group. History Founding ''Discover'' was created primarily through the efforts of ''Time'' magazine e ...

, 1 May 2000 He was educated at Beneavin De La Salle College in

Finglas Finglas (; ) is a northwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies close to Junction 5 of the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorway, and the N2 road (Ireland), N2 road. Nearby suburbs include Glasnevin and Ballymun; Du ...

, Dublin. He studied medicine at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, 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 A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

(MD) degree in 1987.

Research

O'Rahilly undertook research into Type 2

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

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 Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

, 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 The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government's major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...

(NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Associate Faculty at the

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute The Wellcome Sanger Institute, previously known as The Sanger Centre and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is a non-profit organisation, non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute, primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is l ...

and honorary consultant physician at

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...

, Cambridge. He is a professorial fellow of

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

. Notable Cambridge scientists with whom O'Rahilly has shared paper authorship include Krishna Chatterjee, David Dunger, Sadaf Farooqi,

Nita Forouhi Nita Gandhi Forouhi is a British physician and academic, specialising in nutrition and epidemiology. She is Professor of Population Health and Nutrition at the University of Cambridge, the programme leader of the nutritional epidemiology progra ...

Antonio Vidal-Puig Antonio Vidal-Puig (born Valencia, Spain June 12, 1962) is a Spanish medical doctor and scientist who works as a Professor of Molecular Nutrition and Metabolism at the University of Cambridge ( UK), best known for advancing the concept that pha ...

, Nick Wareham, and Giles Yeo.

Awards and honours

O'Rahilly was elected to the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

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 Prize The Heinrich Wieland Prize is awarded annually by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation for outstanding research on biologically active molecules and systems in the areas of chemistry, biochemistry and physiology as well as their clinical importance ...

Heinrich Wieland Prize
in 2002, the

InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize The Artois-Baillet Latour Foundation is a Belgian non-profit organization which was founded on 1 March 1974. History The foundation was born by the initiative of Count Alfred de Baillet Latour, who was the Director of the Artois Breweries in ...

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 A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to medical research. In 2017, he became a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

. 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 The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, learned society and Charitable organization, charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the W ...

(LSW). He was also awarded the

Banting Medal The Banting Medal, officially the Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement, is an annual award conferred by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which is the highest award of ADA. Inaugurated in 1941, the prize is given in memory of Sir Frederic ...

for his contributions towards diabetes research by the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...

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