D.Phil., FCAHS

Scientific Director – Lawson Health Research Institute

Integrated Vice President, Research

London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London

Dr. Hill is Scientific Director of the Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson), one of Canada’s largest hospital-sponsored research institutes. He holds the Lawson Professorship in Diabetes Research, and the Weinstein Chair for Diabetes Research, and is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Paediatrics, at Western University. Educated at the University of Nottingham and at Worcester College, University of Oxford, he has published over 200 scientific papers and maintains an active program in diabetes research and stem cell biology. Dr. Hill has previously served as Chair for both Research Canada and the National Board of the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA). He is a recipient of the CDA’s Frederick G. Banting Award, as well as of the Medal of the Society for Endocrinology from the UK. Dr. Hill is a member and Past Board Chair of the Diabetic Pregnancy Study Group (DPSG), an affiliate of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. He also currently participates on the Research Committee of the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario (CAHO) and is Co-Chair of the Association of Canadian Academic Healthcare Organizations’ (ACAHO) Sub-Committee of VPs of Research. In 2011, Dr. Hill was inducted as a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS).

Dr. Hill’s research centres on the generation of new insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas as a strategy for the reversal of diabetes. Currently, Dr. Hill is researching the ability to manipulate stem cells to become beta cells, which could increase the supply of tissue available for human islet transplantation in those suffering from type 1diabetes, but also the possibility of inducing targeted regeneration of new beta cells within the pancreas removing the need for transplantation. Other projects include looking at the linkage of low birth weight to an increased risk of diabetes in later life, and the ways in which environmental factors, such as nutrition might trigger or protect against diabetes.