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Biography
Professor Rory McCrimmon is an internationally renowned physician-scientist and academic leader, currently serving as Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee. With a distinguished career spanning clinical medicine, diabetes research, and academic leadership, he is recognised for his pioneering work in understanding the brain’s response to hypoglycaemia and its implications in type 1 diabetes.
Educated at the University of Edinburgh, Professor McCrimmon completed his medical training and obtained an MD focused on the cognitive impact of acute hypoglycaemia. He later held research and academic positions at Yale University. Since returning to the UK, he has held progressive academic roles at the University of Dundee, culminating in his appointment as Dean in 2019.
As a clinician and researcher, Professor McCrimmon has led groundbreaking investigations into the neurobiology of hypoglycaemia, identifying key pathways such as the AMP-activated protein kinase and ATP-sensitive potassium channels in glucose sensing. His research has been highly influential, contributing to improved clinical understanding and treatment strategies for diabetes. He has published extensively, with over 20,000 citations, reflecting his impact in the field.
Beyond his laboratory and clinical contributions, Professor McCrimmon plays a central role in advancing diabetes research in Scotland. As the Diabetes Champion for the Scottish Diabetes Research Network (SDRN), he leads efforts to support and coordinate high-quality clinical trials across the country. Under his leadership, the SDRN has secured substantial funding to promote collaborative, translational research that bridges basic science and clinical care.
Professor McCrimmon has also been actively involved in shaping national and international research agendas. He has served on numerous advisory and editorial boards, including Diabetes, Diabetologia, and the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. His expertise has been sought by organisations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Medical Research Council, and the Danish and Swedish research councils.
In academia, Professor McCrimmon is committed to mentoring the next generation of physician-scientists. He has supervised numerous PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and academic trainees, and has co-authored chapters in foundational medical texts, including Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine. His leadership in education extends to curriculum development and fostering inter-institutional collaboration, including roles with ScotGEM and the Medical Schools Council.
Professor McCrimmon’s contributions have been recognised with multiple prestigious awards, including the Dorothy Hodgkin and RD Lawrence Lectures from Diabetes UK, and election to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Through his multifaceted career, he continues to influence the future of diabetes care, medical education, and clinical research both in the UK and globally.
Research
The focus of his translational research programme is to define the fundamental mechanisms by which the brain detects low glucose levels (hypoglycaemia) and how these mechanisms are disrupted in type 1 diabetes in response to repeated episodes of hypoglycaemia. Key findings include, establishing key roles for AMP-activated protein kinase and the ATP-sensitive potassium channel in the detection of hypoglycaemia by the brain, and in establishing that impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia, a clinical condition that affects up to 25% of all people with type 1 diabetes, develops as a result of a specialised form of memory called Habituation. He is also active in clinical trial research and has served as the UK Chief Investigator in a number of multi-centre international clinical trials.
Teaching
Primary teaching experience is in academic mentoring and supervision of clinicians, post-graduates and undergraduate students. In this capacity, I have served as Programme Lead for the Academic Foundation Doctors in the Eastern Deanery, been a member of the Scottish Translational Medicine Training Initiative, and a Medical Research Council Clinical Fellowship Training and Career member Development Awards panel. Also, I have co-written the Chapter on Diabetes in Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine (Editions 22 and 23), a textbook that has been read by over 2 million medical students since its first edition. As Interim Dean I jointly Chair the new ScotGEM post-graduate Entry Medical Programme with David Crossman, Dean of Medicine, St Andrew’s University and will visit Anglia Ruskin University regularly as it starts its new Medical School adopting the Dundee Curriculum.
Media availability
I am available for media commentary on my research.
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Areas of expertise
- Diabetes
- GP shortages
- Obesity
Stories
Press release
Clinical trials to accelerate research into treating chronic kidney disease will be strengthened as a result of a new partnership between the Scottish Government, academia and industry.
News
Professor Vasilis Gorgoulis of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has been appointed Chair of Clinical Molecular Pathology in the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee.
News
School of Medicine staff, colleagues from NHS Tayside and one of the first patients to be treated at Ninewells have been among those celebrating the hospital’s 50th birthday.
