Professor Alan Sinclair

Professor of Medicine and Director

Professor Alan Sinclair is an internationally-recognised expert in diabetes and old age medicine. He is Professor of Medicine at the University of Bedfordshire and Dean at the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Postgraduate Medical School (BHPMS).

Professor Sinclair was formerly Charles Hayward Professor of Geriatric Medicine in Birmingham and Honorary Professor of Medicine in Warwick. He has had grants from the DOH, NHS R&D and Diabetes UK for research into diabetes in the elderly and has carried out the largest case-controlled study which drew attention to the effect of diabetes on functional impairment including cognitive impairment in elderly subjects with diabetes. He has advised the DOH/MRC on research priorities in diabetes and is Chair of a European Working Party on Diabetes in Old Age which recently produced international guidelines on diabetes care for older people.

Professor Sinclair was Academic Director of the EUGMS (European Union Geriatric Medicine Society) between 2001 and 2005 and now chairs a European Special Interest Group in Diabetes for Older People. Alan has been designated a WHO Expert in Diabetes. He is the author of many papers in the area of diabetes and conducted the first detailed prevalence study of diabetes within Care Homes. He led the recent Task & Finish Group of Diabetes UK to update national guidance on diabetes in care homes.  He is the author of the first textbook on diabetes in old age published by Wiley & Sons and a Third Edition of this textbook was published in 2009. Alan was appointed National Clinical Lead in Diabetes for Older People in 2010. Working with Professor Leo R Manas in Madrid, Professor Sinclair was recently awarded as co-lead six million euros by the European Union Commission to investigate the relationship between diabetes and frailty.

The idea for IDOP was a natural consequence of Alan’s pioneering work in diabetes and his commitment to enhancing the quality of diabetes care for all older people, especially those who are frail. Professor Sinclair is currently leading a national initiative by NHS Diabetes in the area of diabetes in older people.