Roy Taylor (diabetologist)

Roy Taylor MBE (born 1952) is a physician, diabetologist, and author who is currently Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Metabolism at Newcastle University, UK. He was previously the Director of Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre and Honorary Consultant Physician at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust.[1][2] His Scopus h-index is 65 (As of 2025).[3]

Taylor has worked on identifying the cause of type 2 diabetes leading to programmes for remission [4][5] and in establishing retinal screening for diabetic eye disease with decreased rates of diabetic blindness in the United Kingdom.[6][7]

Taylor qualified in medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He has been conducting research on type 2 diabetes since 1978.[8] He founded the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre in 2006 to apply innovative techniques to study in all medical specialities.

In 2011 Taylor tested his Twin Cycle Hypothesis of the cause of type 2 diabetes[9] showing that it was a simple, reversible condition of excess fat within liver and pancreas in the early years after diagnosis.[10] This led to a series of studies, including the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial which demonstrated that type 2 diabetes can be reversed to normal in Primary Care and that the underlying pathophysiological changes were durable.[11][12] He has also shown that the whole pancreas is small and irregularly shaped in type 2 diabetes, and that it returns to normal very gradually during 2 years of remission from type 2 diabetes.[13] He developed the Personal Fat Threshold hypothesis together with Professor Rury Holman[14] He then showed that type 2 diabetes in people with normal body mass index had the same cause as in heavier people and long term remission could be achieved by weight loss within the normal body mass index range.[15]

Taylor developed the system now used throughout the United Kingdom for screening for diabetic eye disease, which has resulted in a major reduction in blindness due to diabetes across the UK.[16][17][18] He developed teaching aids for retinal screeners — a profession which he pioneered — co-founding the British Association of Retinal Screeners with training programme and recognised professional qualification.[19] He is also the author of a training manual for retinal screeners, The Handbook of Retinal Screening.[20]

In addition, he developed the Newcastle Obstetric Medical service and advanced clinical management in diabetes during pregnancy [21] and also in severe hyperemesis.[22]

He is the author of Life Without Diabetes, a popular guide to understanding and reversing type 2 diabetes and achieving lasting remission.[23]

Taylor was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to diabetic research.

Major publications

See Curriculum vitae[24]

References

  1. ^ "Staff Profile – Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre – Newcastle University". www.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  2. ^ "BBC Two – Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight – Q&A with Professor Roy Taylor". BBC. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. ^ Roy Taylor publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  4. ^ Lim, E. L.; Hollingsworth, K. G.; Aribisala, B. S.; Chen, M. J.; Mathers, J. C.; Taylor, R. (2011). "Reversal of type 2 diabetes: Normalisation of beta cell function in association with decreased pancreas and liver triacylglycerol". Diabetologia. 54 (10): 2506–2514. doi:10.1007/s00125-011-2204-7. PMC 3168743. PMID 21656330.
  5. ^ Valabhji, Jonathan; Gorton, Tessa; Barron, Emma; Safazadeh, Soraya; Earnshaw, Fiona; Helm, Clare; Virr, Martin; Kernan, John; Crowe, Shaun; Aveyard, Paul; Wilding, John; Willis, Tony; Ells, Louisa; O'Neill, Simon; Robertson, Elizabeth; Jebb, Susan; Taylor, Roy; Bakhai, Chirag (2024). "Early findings from the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme: A prospective evaluation of real-world implementation". The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 12 (9): 653–663. doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(24)00194-3. PMID 39116897.
  6. ^ Taylor, R.; Lovelock, L.; Tunbridge, W. M.; Alberti, K. G.; Brackenridge, R. G.; Stephenson, P.; Young, E. (1990). "Comparison of non-mydriatic retinal photography with ophthalmoscopy in 2159 patients: Mobile retinal camera study". BMJ. 301 (6763): 1243–1247. doi:10.1136/bmj.301.6763.1243. PMC 1664400. PMID 1703024.
  7. ^ Liew, Gerald; Michaelides, Michel; Bunce, Catey (2014). "A comparison of the causes of blindness certifications in England and Wales in working age adults (16–64 years), 1999–2000 with 2009–2010". BMJ Open. 4 (2) e004015. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004015. PMC 3927710. PMID 24525390.
  8. ^ "Virtual Meeting | EASD".
  9. ^ Taylor, R. (2008). "Pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes: Tracing the reverse route from cure to cause". Diabetologia. 51 (10): 1781–1789. doi:10.1007/s00125-008-1116-7. PMID 18726585.
  10. ^ Lim, E. L.; Hollingsworth, K. G.; Aribisala, B. S.; Chen, M. J.; Mathers, J. C.; Taylor, R. (2011). "Reversal of type 2 diabetes: normalisation of beta cell function in association with decreased pancreas and liver triacylglycerol". Diabetologia. 54 (10): 2506–2514. doi:10.1007/s00125-011-2204-7. ISSN 0012-186X. PMC 3168743. PMID 21656330.
  11. ^ Taylor, Roy; Al-Mrabeh, Ahmad; Zhyzhneuskaya, Sviatlana; Peters, Carl; Barnes, Alison C.; Aribisala, Benjamin S.; Hollingsworth, Kieren G.; Mathers, John C.; Sattar, Naveed; Lean, Michael E.J. (2018). "Remission of Human Type 2 Diabetes Requires Decrease in Liver and Pancreas Fat Content but is Dependent upon Capacity for β Cell Recovery". Cell Metabolism. 28 (4): 547–556.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2018.07.003. PMID 30078554.
  12. ^ Al-Mrabeh, Ahmad; Zhyzhneuskaya, Sviatlana V.; Peters, Carl; Barnes, Alison C.; Melhem, Shaden; Jesuthasan, Aaron; Aribisala, Benjamin; Hollingsworth, Kieren G.; Lietz, Georg; Mathers, John C.; Sattar, Naveed; Lean, Michael E.J.; Taylor, Roy (2020). "Hepatic Lipoprotein Export and Remission of Human Type 2 Diabetes after Weight Loss". Cell Metabolism. 31 (2): 233–249.e4. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2019.11.018. PMID 31866441.
  13. ^ Al-Mrabeh, Ahmad; Hollingsworth, Kieren G.; Shaw, James A M.; McConnachie, Alex; Sattar, Naveed; Lean, Michael E J.; Taylor, Roy (2020). "2-year remission of type 2 diabetes and pancreas morphology: A post-hoc analysis of the DiRECT open-label, cluster-randomised trial". The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 8 (12): 939–948. doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30303-X. PMID 33031736.
  14. ^ Taylor, Roy; Holman, Rury R. (2015). "Normal weight individuals who develop Type 2 diabetes: The personal fat threshold". Clinical Science. 128 (7): 405–410. doi:10.1042/CS20140553. PMID 25515001.
  15. ^ Taylor, Roy; Barnes, Alison C.; Hollingsworth, Kieren G.; Irvine, Keaton M.; Solovyova, Alexandra S.; Clark, Lucy; Kelly, Tara; Martin-Ruiz, Carmen; Romeres, Davide; Koulman, Albert; Meek, Claire M.; Jenkins, Benjamin; Cobelli, Claudio; Holman, Rury R. (2023). "Aetiology of Type 2 diabetes in people with a 'normal' body mass index: Testing the personal fat threshold hypothesis". Clinical Science. 137 (16): 1333–1346. doi:10.1042/CS20230586. PMC 10472166. PMID 37593846.
  16. ^ Taylor, R.; Lovelock, L.; Tunbridge, W. M.; Alberti, K. G.; Brackenridge, R. G.; Stephenson, P.; Young, E. (1990). "Comparison of non-mydriatic retinal photography with ophthalmoscopy in 2159 patients: Mobile retinal camera study". BMJ. 301 (6763): 1243–1247. doi:10.1136/bmj.301.6763.1243. PMC 1664400. PMID 1703024.
  17. ^ "Diabetic eye screening: Programme overview". 8 July 2024.
  18. ^ Liew, Gerald; Michaelides, Michel; Bunce, Catey (2014). "A comparison of the causes of blindness certifications in England and Wales in working age adults (16–64 years), 1999–2000 with 2009–2010". BMJ Open. 4 (2) e004015. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004015. PMC 3927710. PMID 24525390.
  19. ^ https://eyescreening.org.uk
  20. ^ Handbook of Retinal Screening 2nd Ed 20125. ISBN 978-1-119-96855-9
  21. ^ Brown, S. Carron; Kyne-Grzebalski, D.; Mwangi, B.; Taylor, R. (1999). "Effect of management policy upon 120 Type 1 diabetic pregnancies: Policy decisions in practice". Diabetic Medicine. 16 (7): 573–578. doi:10.1046/j.1464-5491.1999.00124.x. PMID 10445833.
  22. ^ Al-Ozairi, E.; Waugh, J J S.; Taylor, R. (2009). "Termination is not the treatment of choice for severe hyperemesis gravidarum: Successful management using prednisolone". Obstetric Medicine. 2 (1): 34–37. doi:10.1258/om.2008.080046. PMC 4989783. PMID 27582805.
  23. ^ Life Without Diabetes 2nd Ed 2025 Octopus Publishing ISBN 978-1-80419-226-9
  24. ^ "CV Taylor" (PDF). Retrieved 12 November 2025.
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