Dr Sufyan Hussain is a Consultant Diabetes and Endocrine Physician at Guy’s and St Thomas' Hospital, London. He is passionate about improving care for people with diabetes having lived with type 1 diabetes for over 25 years.
Dr Hussain grew up in Karachi and moved to the UK aged 16 to study at St Paul’s School, London. He graduated from University of Cambridge with specialist training in London teaching hospitals. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School and completed his PhD at Imperial College London. He was appointed as a Darzi fellow on several national diabetes projects. Dr Hussain is a committee member of ABCD Diabetes Technology Network, NHSE London Diabetes Strategic Clinical Network, JDRF Scientific Advisory Committee and an honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College London. Dr Hussain lives in London with his wife, Ilfana and their three young children. Twitter: @sugarydoc
1 Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?
Definitely London. Having lived in 5 cities in 3 different countries, I’ve experienced lots of different cultures and ways of living. London is truly a special place. It is vibrant, diverse and has a lot to offer to everyone and where most of my family are based now.
2 What are your proudest achievements?
Despite the challenges of living with type 1 diabetes in a third world country, the achievement of becoming a diabetes and endocrine specialist in one of the UK’s leading teams, is something I feel proud of. As for achievements at a personal level, being a dad to my 3 great kids.
3 What inspires you?
Being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child, I witnessed how medicine can transform the lives of others. This experience at a young age inspired me to do what I do now and has always motivated me throughout my career to help find better ways to improve the lives of others with diabetes.
4 What has been biggest obstacle in your career?
Nothing big fortunately however I have had no shortage of challenges that have helped me grow and be where I am today. The biggest for me was moving to the UK alone at the age of 16 from Karachi to a high performing school. Helpful early lesson in adapting to change and resilience!
5 Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
I am very grateful to have had and still have excellent mentors throughout my career. It is really hard to choose one. Based on the last 7 years, Professor Elisabeth Paice, OBE, she helped me understand my passions, how to use my strengths and diverse experiences at a critical time in my career.
6 What is the best aspect about your current role?
Working with an excellent team, colleagues and seniors who keep you motivated and inspired in an institution that always puts people first and invests in innovation. It’s a role and setting that allows me to develop my passions in improving the lives of those living with diabetes.
7 And the worst?
There’s just not enough time in the day! NHS working has got busier and with a young family and London living, it can be very hard to balance it all. I am really grateful for the continued support from my wife, family, team, colleagues and friends.
8 What are your long term goals?
Being part of the generation that can help advance healthcare and diabetes through technology and innovation. We are in an exciting era of diabetes technologies and artificial pancreas systems. I also really hope I can use these and other experiences in initiatives abroad to help those in less privileged settings.
9 If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
Change immigration laws to allow the NHS and UK to benefit from foreign trained healthcare professionals. We are very grateful to those who came from abroad to train and serve the NHS. My mother was part of that generation.
10 If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why.
Historical, too many to name. Perhaps Ibn Battuta, scholar and explorer. It would be great to be entertained and marvelled by his many accounts of places and cultures in a very different era. But could I chose a non-historical figure please? In this case I’d say Roger Federer.
