Making a difference in medicine

From Africa to India, Leicester to Dundee, Professor Kamlesh Khunti’s work has had a profound impact on patient care and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 

This year, Kamlesh celebrates 40 years since his graduation from the University of Dundee’s School of Medicine.

Now a Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester, Kamlesh holds an array of impressive titles and roles resulting from his hard work and dedication to medicine. Kamlesh is
also the Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East Midlands, and the founding Director of the Centre for Ethnic Health Research and the University of Leicester’s Real World Evidence Unit.

Born in Africa, he moved to India and then to Leicester at age 9. Kamlesh attended an inner city school in Leicester and was aware of health inequalities from an early age which influenced both his life course and research priorities.

“Several of my male relatives suffered from heart disease or diabetes when they were young. I also very sadly witnessed my father suffer through several heart attacks and strokes. However, this motivated me to pursue a research career in diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as I recognised that important advancements in medicine and technology supported my father’s recovery. He went on to live to the age of 79.” 

After attending the University of Dundee, Kamlesh started out as a full-time GP at a practice back in Leicester. He was instrumental in it becoming a medical teaching hub, a training practice to guide postgraduate doctors to become GPs, and a research centre. He was a GP partner at the practice until 2020 and continues to work there as a GP 34 years later, now seeing his third generation of patients and their families.

Internationally recognised for his contribution to major advances in addressing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, Kamlesh has successfully published more than 1,400 academic papers throughout his career. He was awarded a CBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to health. 

His work has helped improve the health of ethnic minority communities, and he led a body of influential research throughout the pandemic, becoming a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), and a Chair of the SAGE Ethnic Sub- Panel. He was one of the first to recognise the disproportional impacts of COVID-19 on people from ethnic minorities.

In June 2023, Kamlesh was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Dundee for his profound and enduring contributions to improving the lives of people living with diabetes. Furthermore, the School of Medicine was delighted to welcome him back to Dundee in January where he delivered the 13th Mackenzie Lecture, titled ‘Journey of an Inner-City Researcher: from Africa to Dundee’. The annual Mackenzie Lecture is in honour of Sir James Mackenzie, a pioneer in research into the safe use of medicines and primary care research.

Making a difference and personal experience are key drivers for his work. He passionately believes in the importance of learning from local expertise, the value of learning from other countries, the role of civil society as a critical friend to government, finding appropriate relationships between science and policy, and recognising the necessity of viewing issues through an equity lens.

Kamlesh explained that he has many fond memories of his time at university, “Dundee provided me with the key break I needed to join the world of medicine. I also met my wife there when I was 18 and hold many close friendships that I formed in the city.”

Kamlesh continues to be dedicated to his research and the growth of Leicester Diabetes Centre, where he is co-director, and where over 180 people are carrying out studies designed to improve the lives of people with diabetes, with the centre receiving global recognition for its leading research, education and innovation.

His current work investigates multiple long term conditions and explores improvements in the health and treatment of people living with multiple conditions. Although his career still keeps him very busy, the role of family continues to play an important part in his life, and he is loving the opportunity to spend quality time with his six month old grandson.

Diabetes Research

Professor Rory McCrimmon, Dean of Medicine at the University of Dundee, is currently the Lead Clinician for the Scottish Diabetes Research Network, which supports the setup and delivery of clinical and epidemiological research across Scotland. Some of their research tracks real-time clinical information on all 350,000 people with type 1 and type 2 Diabetes in Scotland.

The Diabetes Research Register also has over 16,000 consenting patients who have agreed to be contacted about research for which they are eligible.

If you would like to support the University’s work in this area, you can find out more on how to give back on our website