Background

Since 1994 he has led and developed diabetes services. He also practices in general medicine.

He was Lead Clinician for Diabetes in Lothian from 2004 to 2010.

Nationally he has been Chairman of the Scottish Diabetes Survey Monitoring Group for the last 16 years. This group reviews core diabetes information about all registered people with diabetes in Scotland with a view to understanding the quality of caree and how to improve this. He was Speciality Advisor for Diabetes and Endocrinology to the Scottish Executive from 2004 to 2010.

Professor McKnight chaired the Diabetes SIGN Guideline 116 (2010) and was Lead Clinician for Diabetes in Scotland from 2011 to 2016, Chairing the Scottish Diabetes Group.

He was awarded a Health Foundation Team Leadership award in 2004 and the 2006 Hospital Doctor Diabetes Team of the year award and was conferred the title Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh from August 2012.

Research interests include preventing diabetes, epidemiology of diabetes, using information to improve diabetes care and remote monitoring of diabetes. With colleagues he recently published a comparison of Type 1 diabetes glycaemic control across 19 different countries and has around 115 publications in peer reviewed journals.

He has always held an active interest in improving quality of care in NHS Scotland, previously Chairing the National Clinical Data Advisory Group of Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Training

Graduated from Queens University, Belfast in 1983 and trained in Northern Ireland and from 1992 spent two years as a research fellow at Harvard University. He was appointed Consultant Physician in 1994.

Clinical interests and areas of expertise

He is interested in all aspects of diabetes care and has a particular interest in the glucose management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The treatment options for Type 2 diabetes have increased greatly in the last few years and provide opportunities to use different approaches to control glucose in individuals who have this.

He is also particularly interested in the assessment and reduction of cardiovascular risk in people with diabetes.

Research interests

His main research interest is the use of information to improve diabetes care. The information can be that of one individual (what should they do next?), or of a local or national service. They have shown that diabetes control needs to improve in Scotland and in many other countries if they are to reduce the complications associated with diabetes. They have also found that cardiovascular disease has already greatly decreased in people with Type 1 diabetes and that people with diabetes are living longer than they used to. It is likely that the treatments used are having a major influence on this improved outcome. The challenge is to enable all who wish to benefit from modern diabetes care to have the opportunity to receive this.