named lecture awards
The Named Lectures form a central feature of our conference and provide a platform from which to disseminate information about recent developments in research and progressive thinking about diabetes care. The awards are named in honour of notable figures in diabetes care, but they are not restricted to their namesake’s profession or speciality.
Apply or nominate for a 2027 Named Lecture
Named Lecture applications are now open for the Diabetes UK Professional Conference 2027.
We recognise that improvements in diabetes research and care is delivered and driven by a wide range of healthcare professionals and researchers from different scientific disciplines.
The awards below are named in honour of notable figures in diabetes care, but they are not restricted to their namesake’s profession or speciality. We welcome applications from across the rich tapestry of diabetes treatment, care delivery and research and advise applicants to interpret the criteria with this mind.
We welcome both applications and nominations. If you are nominating an individual, please ensure you have their consent. As nominator, when completing an application form, enter your details as nominator.
For the 2027 Conference, we will be awarding the following Named Lectures:
- Mary MacKinnon Lecture
- Janet Kinson Lecture
- Dorothy Hodgkin Lecture
- Banting Memorial Lecture
- Harry Keen Rank Nutrition Lecture
- Arnold Bloom Lecture
- RD Lawrence Lecture
The Arnold Bloom Lecture and RD Lawrence Lecture already have confirmed speakers for this cycle and are not open for applications or nominations.
Selected lecturers will receive complimentary accommodation, registration and travel, in line with the expenses policy. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of judges, comprising members from various Diabetes UK professional groups. Awardees will be announced in mid-September.
Applications and nominations close on Thursday 20 August 2026, 17:00 BST.
2027 Named Lecture awards
Frederick Banting
The lecture is awarded to any professional well known within the field of diabetes, who has international standing. They will have led transformational change in the field of diabetes and created long-lasting benefits to the way diabetes is treated, or how diabetes care is delivered or managed. Their impact should be evident on at least a national scale.
Our Banting Memorial Lecture is the highest award bestowed by Diabetes UK and is also the oldest, with the first lecture delivered in 1949. The award is named in honour of Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941), the Nobel laureate who alongside fellow scientists Charles Best and John MacLeod, co-discovered insulin in 1922. Their discovery saved the life of Leonard Thompson, the first person with diabetes to be treated with insulin and has saved and changed the lives of countless others over the past century.
Applicants’ checklist
When writing your application, please remember that the judges will be considering the following criteria during their assessment:
- Applicant has international standing
- Applicant is recognised in the field of diabetes
- Work has produced long-lasting benefit
- Work has led to a significant, transformational change in diabetes treatment and care
- National, if not international, impact
Dorothy Hodgkin
The Dorothy Hodgkin Lecture is awarded to a person internationally recognised for their contribution to basic or discovery science in the field of diabetes. Their work will have directly led to, or supported, a step change in our understanding of diabetes and hold the potential for transformative, long-lasting improvements in diabetes treatment and care.
Dorothy Hodgkin (1910–1994) was a renowned Nobel Prize winning chemist, a pioneer of X-ray crystallography, who used the technique to unlock the structures of biomolecules including Vitamin B12 and penicillin. By cracking the structure of insulin in 1969, she enabled many modern advances we take for granted today, including mass production of insulin and the creation of different insulin analogues.
Applicants’ checklist
When writing your application, please remember that the judges will be considering the following criteria during their assessment:
- Applicant has international standing.
- Basic or discovery science in the field of diabetes
- Work has created a step change in our understanding of diabetes.
- Work holds potential for transformative improvements in diabetes treatment and care.
- Potential long-lasting benefit to people living with or affected by diabetes.
Janet Kinson
This lecture is awarded to a person who acts as a champion for diabetes education either nationally or in their locality. They will demonstrate a commitment to the delivery of education as a fundamental aspect of clinical care. Their work will reflect a patient-centred approach, guided or informed by people living with or affected by diabetes. Their work will have been instrumental in improving the education of either healthcare professionals or people living with or affected by diabetes, leading to improved patient health outcomes and wellbeing.
The award is in honour of Janet Kinson (1934-2014), a diabetes specialist nurse committed to diabetes education and person-centred care. As a passionate and engaging communicator, she developed the first training courses for nurses in diabetes care whilst working in Birmingham. In 1984, she co-authored the main reference book of the time, ‘Caring for the diabetic patient’ and worked with Charles Fox and Chris Gillespie in the development of the Knuston Diabetes Counselling Course, which still runs today.
Applicants’ checklist
When writing your application, please remember that the judges will be considering the following criteria during their assessment:
- Applicant is a champion for diabetes education at least within their locality, if not nationally.
- Demonstrated commitment to the delivery of education as an integral part of diabetes care.
- Work demonstrates a patient-centred approach.
- Work is guided or informed by patient experience.
- Work has improved education of either healthcare professionals or people living with or affected by diabetes.
- Work has improved the health and wellbeing of people living with or affected by diabetes.
Mary MacKinnon
This lecture will be awarded to a diabetes team or an individual who have worked collaboratively across healthcare teams to provide integrated, person-centred care in the community. Their work will have enabled and empowered people to engage with and better manage their diabetes, and will have been informed by patient views and perspectives.
This award is in honour of Mary MacKinnon who passed away in 2013, a nurse and lecturer who specialised in practice and diabetes nursing. Mary was dedicated to the care and education of people with diabetes and those close to them and worked locally, nationally and internationally to this end. She promoted professional education in diabetes and the inclusion of primary healthcare providers in local integrated diabetes teams with personal support provided by specialist teams. Mary was committed to the philosophy of 'whole person care', which enables people with diabetes to manage their condition, to be the key member of their own healthcare team and to be included and involved in the planning of local diabetes services.
Applicants’ checklist
When writing your application, please remember that the judges will be considering the following criteria during their assessment:
- Applicant is part of or has led team(s) to deliver their work.
- Work demonstrates collaborative working across healthcare teams.
- Work has provided and/or improved integrated, person-centred care in the community.
- Work has empowered people to engage with and better manage their diabetes.
- Work has been informed by patient views and perspectives.
Harry Keen Rank Nutrition
The lecture is specifically focused on nutrition and is awarded to an individual conducting lab-based or clinical research in this area. Their innovative work will have led to, or have the potential to lead to, improvements in the health, care or wellbeing of people living with or affected by diabetes.
This lecture is kindly funded by the Rank Prize Funds in memory of Professor Harry Keen who sadly passed away in 2013. Professor Keen, who sat on the Rank Prize Funds Committee for over 22 years, was a physician and epidemiologist who did much to shape the modern understanding of diabetes and its treatment.
Applicants’ checklist
When writing your application, please remember that the judges will be considering the following criteria during their assessment:
- Applicant’s work demonstrates innovation/innovative thinking
- Applicant’s work is focused on nutrition
- Applicant is conducting basic, discovery or clinical research.
- Their work has the potential to lead to, or has already led to, significant improvements in treatment, care or wellbeing of people living with or affected by diabetes.
Arnold Bloom
The Arnold Bloom Lecture is awarded to anyone who has made significant improvements through system change to the delivery of care for people living with or affected by diabetes. Their work is guided by or informed by patient experience, is patient-centred and demonstrates a holistic approach to care. The impact of their work has a national reach.
The award is in honour of Arnold Bloom (1915–1992), a celebrated and well-loved clinician who placed the care of patients at the centre of his work, understanding and valuing the patient’s perspective. His work studying the differences in patient responses to insulin and drug therapies helped pave the way for the diabetes classifications we use today. He delivered the 33rd Banting Memorial Lecture for his pioneering work developing a UK register of all newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes, giving us the first insights into potential triggers that are still being researched today.
Please note: the Arnold Bloom Lecture already has a confirmed speaker for the 2027 cycle and is not open for applications or nominations.
RD Lawrence
The RD Lawrence Lecture is awarded to an early-career professional conducting pioneering basic or clinical research that has the potential to lead to significant improvements in the treatment, care or wellbeing of people affected by or living with diabetes. Their work should show evidence of patient involvement. Ideally, the lecturer will be working within the first ten to twenty years of their research career. Allowance is given to applicants who have taken a non-standard career pathway and whose career has been subject to a late start or interruption for family or personal reasons.
The award is now in its 54th year and honours Robert Daniel Lawrence (1892–1968), Scottish co-founder of Diabetes UK. RD Lawrence led the creation of one of the earliest and largest diabetes clinics in the UK and pioneered research into aspects of diabetes management we use today, including the role of diet and exercise. He recognised the importance of patient engagement in research, education and welfare; values he brought to the Diabetes Association, now Diabetes UK, which he co-founded in 1934 with H.G. Wells.
Please note: the RD Lawrence Lecture already has a confirmed speaker for the 2027 cycle and is not open for applications or nominations.
