Kellion Award Winner 2008
Professor Martin Silink, AM, MB BS (Hons 1), MD, FRACP, FRCPT (Hon)
Professor Martin Silink is President of the International Diabetes Federation for the 2006-2009 triennium. The IDF is based in Brussels and is a federation of 203 national diabetes associations from 162 countries. It is the global voice of the estimated 246 million people with diabetes worldwide and is in formal relations with the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Professor Silink is also Chair of the IDF Child Sponsorship programme which provides life-saving medications to children with diabetes in 17 developing countries. In 2006, he led the successful ‘Unite for Diabetes’ campaign which resulted in the declaration of United Nations Resolution 61/225 on diabetes on December 20th 2006.
Professor Silink is Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at the University of Sydney and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia. His main research interests are diabetes complications in the young and the changing patterns of diabetes in childhood and adolescence.
Professor Silink is a member of various professional societies including Australian Diabetes Society, American Diabetes Association (ADA), European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Endocrine Society of Australia, The Endocrine Society (USA), Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society (USA) and the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD).
Previous appointments include President-Elect of IDF (2003-2006), Vice President of IDF (2000-2003), Chairman of the IDF Consultative Section on Childhood & Adolescent Diabetes (1994-2003), President of the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) (1999-2002), President Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group (APEG) and a Member of the ADS Council (1979-1981). In addition, he has served on committees of Royal Australian College of Physicians, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Diabetes Australia, Diabetes Australia NSW and Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Professor Silink has served on the Editorial Board of Pediatric Diabetes, Clinical Pediatric Endocrinology and the IDF Diabetes Atlas. His CV includes over 120 articles and invited chapters, and he was the editor of the Australian National Health and Medical Research guidelines on the management of childhood diabetes.
