Stephen graduated in Medicine from University College Dublin in 1981 followed by an internship at the Mater Hospital. From 1982-1991 he undertook postgraduate training in general medicine and endocrinology and in diabetes research in London, Oxford and Harvard.
In 1991 he established his own laboratory in University of Cambridge at Addenbrooke’s Hospital where he was a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Science. In 1996 he was appointed to a newly created Chair of Metabolic Medicine and in 2002 was appointed to the Chair of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine at the University of Cambridge.
His research has been concerned with the elucidation of the basic causes of Type 2 diabetes and obesity at a molecular level. His work has uncovered several previously unrecognised genetic causes of these diseases including some that are amenable to specific treatment.
He has won many awards for his work including the Society for Endocrinology medal, the Graham Bull Prize of the Royal College of Physicians London, the European Journal of Endocrinology Prize, the Novartis International Award for Clinical Research in Diabetes, the Heinrich Wieland Prize and the Rolf Luft Award. He was elected to the Royal Society in 2003.
While maintaining a large research laboratory he continues to be actively involved in clinical practice and the teaching of clinical medical students.
Rank Nutrition Lecture 2007: Human metabolism: lessons from the extremes