Robert Semple is Professor of Translational Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Consultant Endocrinologist with NHS Lothian. He trained in Biochemistry and then in Medicine at the University of Cambridge, followed by doctoral training in the laboratory of Prof. Sir Stephen O’Rahilly.
Working at the Institute of Metabolic Science at the University of Cambridge until moving to Edinburgh in 2017, Robert’s clinical and research interests centre on acquired and monogenic forms of insulin resistance, hypoglycaemia, and segmental overgrowth, extending human studies with monogenic disease modelling in animals and cells. He is currently Dean of Postgraduate Research for the University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and served on the MRC Population and Systems Medicine Board from 2018 to 2024, with a particular interest in rare disease. He now chairs the Rare Disease Research UK Platform Oversight Group and the Scientific Evaluation Committee of the European Rare Diseases Research Alliance Joint Transnational Call 2025, and co-chairs the Swiss National Science Foundation’s Starting Grants’ Panel LS-C.
