Steven was a loyal and highly-valued member of the diabetes research team in Oxford for 13 years.
Following his DPhil in Biochemistry and MSc in Human Biology (both at Oxford) Steven joined Robert Turner at the DRL at the Radcliffe Infirmary in 1999 working on the genetics of diabetes. By the time OCDEM opened, he had moved to Mark McCarthy's group, where he led the analysis of experiments designed to further our understanding of the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes. His intelligent and analytical approach to solving research problems drove many projects forward and his dry wit illuminated many a meeting. His growing status in the field led to his obtaining a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship to further his research; as part of his fellowship, he spent a rewarding year at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 2006 Steven decided to seek a change of scene and moved to Perth to take up a Senior Lecturer position at the Western Australia Institute of Medical Research. It was whilst in Australia that his illness was first diagnosed, and he embarked on the first of a series of treatments. When his illness forced him to return from Australia, we were delighted to be able to offer him a position back in the diabetes research group in Oxford, where he resumed work on the genetics of diabetes.
Steven was one of the leading investigators in his field with a bright future ahead of him. Sadly, illness has brought that, and so much more, to a premature end. Those who knew him will bear witness to the friendly professionalism and enthusiasm with which he worked, even when the physical and emotional demands imposed by his illness must have been almost too much to bear. We will miss him enormously.